They ask thee about
the Hour, When will be its appointed time? Wherein art thou (concerned)
with the declaration thereof? With thy Lord is the Limit fixed thereof.
Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. The Day they will see it, (it
will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till)
the following morn!
(an-Nâziat 79:42-46)

They ask thee about
the (final) Hour - when will be its appointed time? Say: The knowledge
thereof is with my Lord (alone): none but He can reveal as to when it will
occur. Heavy were its burden through the heavens and the earth. Only, all
of a sudden will it come to you. They ask thee as if thou were eager in
search thereof: say: The knowledge thereof is with Allâh (alone), but
most men know not.
(al-Arâf 7:187)

There are many Âyat and Ahadîth
concerning this subject: Allâh said:

The Hour (of
Judgement) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder.
(al-Qamar 54:1)

The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, whilst pointing with his index and middle fingers,
The time of my advent and the Hour are like these two fingers.
In another report he said,
The Hour almost came before me.
This indicates how close we are, relatively speaking, to the Hour.

Allâh said:
Closer and closer to mankind comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and
they turn away. (al-Anbiyâ 21:1)

Only those wish to
hasten it who believe not in it: those who believe hold it in awe, and
know that it is the Truth.(ash-Shûra 42:18)

In Sahîh al-Bukhârî, there is a Hadîth
which states that a Bedouin asked the Prophet about the Hour. He said,
It will surely come to pass. What have you prepared for it? The
man said, O Messenger of Allâh, I have not prepared much in the way of
prayer and good works, but I love Allâh and His Messenger. The Prophet
said, You will be with those you love.
The Muslims had never rejoiced as much they did when they heard this
Hadîth.

Some Ahadîth report that the Prophet
was asked about the Hour. He looked towards a young boy and said,
If he lives, he will not grow very old before he
sees your Last Hour coming to you. By this he meant their death
and entering the Hereafter, because everyone who dies enters the Hereafter;
some people say that when a person has died, his Judgement has begun. This
Hadîth with this meaning is "correct" (Sahîh). Some heretics comment on this
Hadîth and give it an incorrect meaning. The exact timing of the Great Hour
(as-Sâat al-Uzma) is something which Allâh alone knows and which He has
not revealed to anyone, as is clear from the Hadîth in which the Prophet
said: There are five things which nobody knows
except Allâh; then he recited,
Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allâh (alone). It is He Who sends
down rain, and He Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what
it is that he will earn on the morrow: Nor does anyone know in what land he
is to die. Verily with Allâh is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with
all things). (Luqmân 31:34)

When Gabriel (Jibrîl) - alayhis
salâm - came to the Prophet in the guise of a Bedouin, he asked him
about Islâm, Îmân (faith) and Ihsân (excellence of faith); and the Prophet
answered his questions. But when he asked him about the Hour, he said,
The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.
Jibrîl said, Tell me about its signs. Then the Prophet described them, as
we shall see later when we quote this Hadîth and others in full.

Hudhayfah said:
The Prophet stood up one day to speak to us, and told us everything that
was going to happen until the Hour, and left nothing unsaid. Some of the
listeners learnt it by heart, and some forgot it; these friends of mine
learnt it. I do not remember it completely, but sometimes it springs to
mind, just as one might remember and recognise the face of a man whom one
had forgotten, when one sees him. (Abû Dâwûd, Muslim)

Imâm Ahmad reported via Abû Nudrah that
Abû Saîd said: One day the Prophet led us in praying the afternoon prayer
(Salâtul-Asr). Then he stood and addressed us until sunset. He mentioned
everything that was to happen until the Day of Resurrection, and left
nothing unsaid. Some of us remembered it, and some of us forgot it. One of
the things he said was:
O people, this world is full of attractive
temptations. Allâh has appointed you as vicegerents (Khalîfah) in this
world, and He will see how you will act. So guard yourselves against the
temptations of this world and of women. Towards the end of this
speech, he said, The sun is about to set, and what
remains of this world, compared to what has passed, is like what remains of
this day compared to what has passed.

'Alî ibn Zayd ibn Jadan al-Timi
narrated some Gharîb and Munkar Ahadîth - which could bring into question
the validity of this Hadîth. But there are some reports which are similar to
this Hadîth, and which were transmitted with different isnâds. Part of this
Hadîth is in Sahîh Muslim, through Abû Nudrah on the authority of Abû Saîd.
This Hadîth refers to something which is beyond any doubt: what remains of
this world, compared to what has passed, is very little. In spite of that,
no-one can know exactly how much time is left except Allâh, and no-one can
know exactly how much time has passed, except Allâh.

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said,
"People used to ask the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi
wa sallam - about good things, but I used to ask him about bad things
because I was afraid that they might overtake me. I said, 'O Messenger of
Allâh, we were lost in ignorance (Jahiliyyah) and evil, then Allâh brought
this good (i.e. Islâm). Will some evil come after this good thing?' He said,
'Yes'I asked, 'And will some good come after that evil?'
He said, 'Yes,
but it will be tainted with some evil'I
asked, 'How will it be tainted?' He said,
'There will be some people who will lead others on a path different from
mine. You will see good and bad in them."I
asked, 'Will some evil come after that good?' He said,'Some people will be standing and calling at the
gates of Hell; whoever responds to their call, they will throw him into the
Fire.'I said, 'O Messenger of Allâh,
describe them for us.' He said,
'They will be from our own people, and will speak our language.'I asked, 'What do you advise me to do if I should
live to see that?' He said, 'Stick to the
main body (jama'ah) of the Muslims and their leader (Imâm).I asked, What if there is no main body and no
leader?' He said'Isolate yourself from all
of these sects, even if you have to eat the roots of trees until death
overcomes you while you are in that state.'"

'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ud said: "The Prophet
said, 'Islâm began as something strange, and it
will revert to being strange as it was in the beginning, so good tidings for
the strangers.' Someone asked, 'Who are the strangers?' He said,
'The ones who break away from their people (literally, 'tribes') for the
sake of Islâm.'
"

This Hadîth was narrated by Ibn Majah
on the authority of Anas and Abû Hurayrah.

'Awf ibn Malik reported that the
Prophet said: "The Jews split into seventy-one
sects: one will enter Paradise and seventy will enter Hell. The Christians
split into seventy-two sects: seventy-one will enter Hell and one will enter
Paradise. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, my Ummah will split into
seventy-three sects: one will enter Paradise and seventy-two will enter
Hell." Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allâh, who will they be?"
He replied,
"The main body of the Muslims (al-Jama'ah)."
'Awf ibn Malik is the only one who reported this Hadîth, and its isnad is
acceptable.

Anas ibn Malik said, "I shall tell you
a Hadîth which I heard from the Messenger of Allâh, and which no-one will
tell you after me. I heard him say,
'Among the signs of the Hour will be the
disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance. Adultery will be
prevalent and the drinking of wine will be common. The number of men will
decrease and the number of women will increase until there will be fifty
women to be looked after by one man.' " This Hadîth was reported
in the two Sahîhs from the Hadîth of 'Abd Rabbihi.

'Abdullâh said, "The Prophet said,
'Just before the Hour, there will be days in which knowledge will disappear
and ignorance will appear, and there will be much killing.' "
(Ibn Majah; also narrated by al-Bukhârî and Muslim, from the Hadîth of
al-A'mash.)

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said, "The
Prophet said, 'Islâm will become worn out like
clothes are, until there will be no-one who knows what fasting, prayer,
charity and rituals are. The Qur'ân will disappear in one night, and no Ayah
will be left on earth. Some groups of old people will be left who will say,
'We heard our fathers saying La ilaha illa Allâh, so we repeated it.'
Silah asked Hudhayfah, "What will saying La ilaha illa Allâh do for them
when they do not know what prayer, fasting, ritual and charity are?"
Hudhayfah ignored him; then Silah repeated his question three times, and
each time Hudayfah ignored him. Finally he answered, "O Silah, it will save
them from Hell", and said it three times. (Ibn Majah)

This indicates that in the last days,
knowledge will be taken from the people, and even the Qur'ân will disappear
from the Mushafs and from people's hearts. People will be left without
knowledge. Only the old people will tell them that they used to hear people
saying La ilaha illa Allâh; and they will repeat it to feel close to Allâh,
so it will give them some blessing, even if they do not have any good deeds
or beneficial knowledge. Knowledge will be taken away from men and ignorance
will increase during the last days, and their ignorance and misguidance will
increase until the end, as in the Hadîth of the Prophet:
"The Hour will not come upon anyone who says, 'Allâh, Allâh'; it will only
come upon the most evil of men."

The Evils Which
Will Befall the Muslim Ummah During The Last Days

'Abdullâh ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet
- sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - came to us and said,
'O Muhajirun, (emigrants from Makkah to
al-Madînah) you may be afflicted by five things; God forbid that you should
live to see them. If fornication should become widespread, you should
realise that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the
people which their forebears never suffered. If people should begin to cheat
in weighing out goods, you should realise that this has never happened
without drought and famine befalling the people, and their rulers oppressing
them. If people should withhold Zakat, you should realise that this has
never happened without the rain being stopped from falling; and were it not
for the animals' sake, it would never rain again. If people should break
their covenant with Allâh and His Messenger, you should realise that his has
never happened without Allâh sending an enemy against them to take some of
their possessions by force. If the leaders do not govern according to the
Book of Allâh, you should realise that this has never happened without Allâh
making them into groups and making them fight one another.' "
(Ibn Majah).

'Alî ibn Abi Talib said, "The Prophet
said: 'If my Ummah bears fifteen traits,
tribulation will befall it.' Someone asked, 'What are they, O
Messenger of Allâh?' He said, 'When any gain is
shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor; when a trust
becomes a means of making a profit; when paying Zakat becomes a burden; when
a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly
whilst shunning his father; when voices are raised in the mosques; when the
leader of a people is the worst of them; when people treat a man with
respect because they fear some evil he may do; when much wine is drunk; when
men wear silk; when female singers and musical instruments become popular;
when the last ones of this Ummah curse the first ones - then let them expect
a red wind, or the earth to swallow them, or to be transformed into
animals.'" (at-Tirmidhî)

'Alî ibn Abi Talib said,
"The Prophet led us in praying Salat al-Fajr (the
morning prayer). When he had finished, a man called to him: 'When will the
Hour be? The Prophet reprimanded him and said 'Be quiet!' After a while he
raised his eyes to the sky and said, 'Glorified be the One Who raised it and
is taking care of it.' Then he lowered his gaze to the earth and said,
'Glory be to the One Who has outspread it and has created it.' Then the
Prophet said, 'Where is the one who asked me about the Hour?' The man knelt
down and said, 'I asked you.' The Prophet said, 'The Hour will come when
leaders are oppressors, when people believe in the stars and reject al-Qadar
(the Divine Decree of destiny) when a trust becomes a way of making a
profit, when people give to charity (Sadaqah) reluctantly, when adultery
becomes widespread - when this happens, then your people will perish.'"

'Imran ibn Husayn said, "The Prophet
said, 'Some people of this Ummah will be swallowed
up by the earth, some will be transformed into animals, and some will be
bombarded with stones.' One of the Muslims asked, 'When will that
be, O Messenger of Allâh?' He said,
'When singers and musical instruments will become
popular, and much wine will be drunk.'" (Narrated by at-Tirmidhî)

[Note: "The main body of the Muslims
(al-Jama'ah) means the people of the Qur'ân, Hadîth, Fiqh and other
sciences, who have agreed to follow the Traditions of the Prophet in all
circumstances without introducing any changes or imposing their own confused
ideas.]

AFTER the lesser signs of the Hour
appear and increase, mankind will have reached a stage of great suffering.
Then the awaited Mahdi will appear; he is the first of the greater, and
clear, signs of the Hour. There will be no doubt about his existence, but
this will only be clear to the knowledgeable people. The Mahdi will rule
until the False Messiah (al-Masih al-Dajjal) appears, who will spread
oppression and corruption. The only ones who will know him well and avoid
his evil will be those who have great knowledge and îmân (faith).

The false Messiah will remain for a
while, destroying mankind completely, and the earth will witness the
greatest Fitnah (tribulation) in its history. Then the Messiah Jesus (alayhe
sallam) will descend, bringing justice from heaven. He will kill the Dajjal,
and there will be years of safety and security.

Then the appearance of Yajuj and Majuj
(Gog and Magog) will take mankind by surprise, and corruption will overtake
them again. In answer to Jesus faithful prayer to Allâh (Subhanahu wa
Taala), they will die, and safety, security, justice and stability will
return.

This state of affairs will continue for
some years, until the death of Jesus. The Ulama differ concerning the order
in which the other greater signs of the Hour will come about. They are:

The destruction of the Ka'bah and
the recovery of its treasure.

The rising of the sun from the
west.

The emergence of the Beast from the
earth.

The smoke.

A wind will take the souls of the
believers.

The Qur'ân will be taken up into
heaven.

A fire will drive the people to
their last gathering place.

The Trumpet will be sounded: at the
first sound everyone will feel terror; at the second sound all will be
struck down; at the last sound all will be resurrected.

The Mahdi

THE Mahdi will come at the end of time;
he is one of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and Imâms. He is not the Mahdi who
is expected by the Shiah, who they claim will appear from a tunnel in
Samarra. This claim of theirs has no basis in reality nor in any reliable
source. They allege that his name is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Askari,
and that he went into the tunnel when he was five years old. The matter we
intend to discuss has been proven by Ahadîth narrated from the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -: that the Mahdi will appear at the end of
time. I believe that he will appear before Jesus the son of Mary comes down,
as the Ahadîth indicate.

Hajjaj said that he heard 'Alî say, The
Prophet said, "Even if there were only one day left
for the world, Allâh would send a man from among us to fill the world with
justice, just as it had been filled with oppression and justice."
(Ahmad).

'Alî said, The Prophet said,
"The Mahdi is one of us, from among the people of
my household. In one night Allâh will inspire him and prepare him to carry
out his task successfully." (Ahmad and Ibn Majah.)

'Alî said, whilst looking at his son
al-Hasan, This son of mine is a Sayyid (master), as the Prophet named him.
Among his descendants there will be man named after your Prophet. He will
resemble him in behaviour but not in looks. Then he told them the report
which mentions that the earth will be filled with justice. (Abû Dâwûd)

Abû Dâwûd devoted a chapter of his
Sunan to the subject of the Mahdi. At the beginning of this chapter he
quoted the Hadîth of Jabir ibn Samrah, in which the Prophet said,
"This religion will remain steadfast until twelve caliphs have ruled over
you."
(According to another report he said, "This
religion will remain strong until twelve caliphs have ruled over you.")

Jabir said, The people cheered and
shouted Allâhu akbar! Then the Prophet whispered something. I asked my
father What did he say? My father said, He said,
All of them will be from Quraysh. Another report says that when
the Prophet returned to his house, Quraysh came to him and asked, What will
happen after that? He said, Then there will be
tribulation and killing.

Abû Dâwûd reported a Hadîth from
'Abdullâh ibn Masud: The Prophet said, "If there
were only one day left for the world, that day would be lengthened until a
man from among my descendants or from among the people of my household, was
sent; his name will be the same as my name, and his fathers name will be the
same as my fathers name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness,
just as it will have been filled with injustice and oppression. The world
will not end until a man of my household, whose name is the same as mine,
holds away."

'Abdullâh said, The Prophet said,
"A man from my household, whose name is like mine, will take power."
(at-Tirmidhî.) In another report, from Abû Hurayrah, the Prophet said,
"If there were only one day left for this world, Allâh would lengthen it
until he took power." Abû Said said, The Prophet said,
"The Mahdi will be one of my descendants; he will have a high forehead and a
hooked nose. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it was
filled with injustice and oppression, and he will rule for seven years.
(Abû Dâwûd)

Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet
said, "People will begin to differ after the death
of a Khalifah. A man from the people of Madînah will flee to Makkah. Some of
the people of Makkah will come to him and drag him out against his will;
they will swear allegiance to him between al-Rukn and al-Maqam. An army will
be sent against him from Syria; it will be swallowed up in the desert
between Makkah and Madînah. When the people see this, groups of people from
Syria and Iraq will come and swear allegiance to him. Then a man from
Quraysh whose mother is from Kalb will appear and send an army against them,
and will defeat them; this will be known as the Battle of Kalb. Whoever does
not witness the spoils of this battle will miss much! The Mahdi will
distribute the wealth, and will rule the people according to the Sunnah of
the Prophet. Then he will die, and the Muslims will pray for him."
(Abû Dâwûd)

'Alî said, The Prophet said,
"A man named al-Harith ibn Hirath will come from
Transoxania. His army will be led by a man named Mansur. He will pave the
way for and establish the government of the family of Muhammad, just as
Quraysh established the government of the Messenger of Allâh. Every believer
will be obliged to support him." (Abû Dâwûd)

'Abdullâh ibn al-Harith ibn Juz
al-Zubaydi said, The Prophet said, A people will
come out of the East who will pave the way for the Mahdi. (Ibn
Majah.)

'Abdullâh said, Whilst we were with the
Prophet, some young men from Banu Hashim approached us. When the Prophet saw
them, his eyes filled with tears and the colour of his face changed. I said,
We can see something has changed in your face, and it upsets us. The Prophet
said, "We are the people of a Household for whom
Allâh has chosen the Hereafter rather than this world. The people of my
Household (Ahl al-Bayt) will suffer a great deal after my death, and will be
persecuted until a people carrying black banners will come out of the east.
They will instruct the people to do good, but the people will refuse; they
will fight until they are victorious, and the people do as they asked, but
they will not accept it from them until they hand over power to a man from
my household. Then the earth will be filled with fairness, just as it had
been filled with injustice. If any of you live to see this, you should go to
him even if you have to crawl across ice."

This text refers to the rule of the
Abbasids, as we have mentioned above in the text referring to the beginning
of their rule in 132 AH. It also indicates that the Mahdi will appear after
the Abbasids, and that he will be one of the Ahl al-Bayt, a descendant of
Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet, through Hasan, not Husayn, as
mentioned in the Hadîth from 'Alî ibn Abi Talib; and Allâh knows best.

Thwaban said, The Prophet said,
"Three men will be killed at the place where your
treasure is. Each of them will be the son of a Khalifah, and none of them
will get hold of the treasure. Then the black banners will come out of the
East, and they will slaughter you in a way which has never been seen before.
Then he said something which I do not remember; then, If you see him, go and
give him your allegiance, even if you have to crawl over ice, because he is
the Khalifah of Allâh, the Mahdi."
(Ibn Majah.)

The treasure referred to in this text
is the treasure of the Ka'bah. Towards the end of time, three of the sons of
the Khalifahs will fight to get hold of it, until the Mahdi appears. He will
appear from the East, not from the tunnel of Samarra, as the Shiah claim;
they believe that he is in this tunnel now, and they are waiting for him to
emerge at the end of time. There is no evidence for it in any book or Saheeh
tradition, and there is no benefit in believing this.

The truth of the matter is that the
Mahdi whose coming is promised at the end of time will appear from the East,
and people will swear allegiance to him at the Ka'bah, as some Ahadîth
indicate. At the time of the Mahdi, there will be peace and prosperity, with
Abûndant crops and wealth, strong rulers, and Islâm will be
well-established.

Abû Said said,
By Allâh every ruler we have had has been worse than
the previous one, and every year has been worse than the year before, but I
heard the Prophet say, Among your rulers will be one who will give out
wealth freely, without counting it. A man will come and ask him for money,
and he will say take; the man will spread his cloak out and the ruler will
pour money into it. The Prophet spread out a thick cloak he had been
wearing, to demonstrate the mans actions; then he gathered it up by its
corners and said, Then the man will take it and leave.
(Ahmad)

Trials and Tribulations

Zaynab bint Jahsh said, The Prophet
(sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam) got up from his sleep; his face was flushed
and he said, "There is no god but Allâh. Woe to the
Arabs, for a great evil which is nearly approaching them. Today a gap has
been made in the wall of Gog and Magog like this (Sufyan illustrated this by
forming the number of 90 or 100 with his fingers)." Someone
asked, "Shall we be destroyed even though there are righteous people among
us?" The Prophet said,
"Yes, if evil increases."
(al-Bukhârî).

Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet
said, One night the Prophet got up and said,
"Subhan Allâh! How many tribulations have come down tonight, and how many
treasures have been disclosed! Go and wake the dwellers of these apartments
(i e his wives) for prayer. A well-dressed soul in this world may be naked
in the Hereafter." (al-Bukhârî)

Usamah ibn Zayd said, Once the Prophet
stood over one of the battlements of al-Madînah and asked the people,
"Do you see what I see?"
They said, "No." He said, "I see afflictions
falling upon your houses as raindrops fall."
(al-Bukhârî, Muslim.)

Abû Hurayrah (radiAllâhu anhu) said,
The Prophet said, "Time will pass rapidly,
knowledge will decrease, miserliness will become widespread in peoples
hearts, afflictions will appear, and there will be much Harj."
The people asked, "O Messenger of Allâh, what is Harj?" He said,
"Killing, killing!"
(al-Bukhârî)

Al-Zubayr ibn Adi narrated, We went to
Anas ibn Malik and complained about the wrong we were suffering at the hands
of al-Hajjaj. Anas ibn Malik said,
"Be patient, For no time will come but that the time following it will be
worse, until you meet your Lord. I heard the Prophet say that."
(al-Bukhârî)

Abû Hurayrah said, The Prophet said,
"There will come a time of afflictions when one who sits will be better than
one who stands; one who stands will be better than one who walks; and one
who walks will be better than one who runs. Whoever exposes himself to these
afflictions, they will destroy him. So whoever can find a place of
protection or refuge from them, should take shelter in it."
(al-Bukhârî and Muslim.)

Hudhayfah said,
"The Prophet told us two Hadîth, one of which I have seen fulfilled, and I
am waiting for the fulfilment of the other. The Prophet told us that honesty
came down into mens hearts (from Allâh); then they learnt it from the
Qur'ân, and then from the Sunnah. The Prophet told us that honesty would be
taken away. He said, Man will be overtaken by sleep, during which honesty
will be taken away from his heart, and only its trace will remain, like
traces of a dark spot. Then man will be overtaken by slumber again, during
which honesty will decrease still further, until its trace will resemble a
blister such as is caused when an ember is dropped onto ones foot: it
swells, but there is nothing inside. People will be carrying on with their
trade, but there will hardly be any trustworthy persons. People will say,
There is an honest man in such-and-such a tribe. Later they will say about
some man, What a wise, polite and strong man he is! - although he will not
have faith even the size of a mustard-seed in his heart. Indeed, there came
a time when I did not mind dealing with any one of you, for if he were a
Muslim his Islâm would compel him to pay whatever he owed me, and if he were
a Christian, the Muslim official would compel him to pay it. But now I do
not deal with anyone except so-and-so and so-and-so." (al-Bukhârî)

Ibn Umar said, The Prophet stood beside
the pulpit, facing the east, and said, "Afflictions
will verily emerge from here, where the top of Satans head will appear."
(al-Bukhârî)

Abû Hurayrah said that he had heard the
Prophet say, "The Hour will not come until a man
passes by someone's grave and says, Would that I were in his place!"
(al-Bukhârî)

Abû Hurayrah said, I heard the Prophet
say, "The Hour will not come until the buttocks of
the women of Daws* move whist going around Dhu l-Khalasah."
Dhu l-Khalasah was an idol worshipped by the tribe of Daws during the
Jahiliyyah. (Hadîth from al-Bukhârî)

Abû Hurayrah also said, The Prophet
said, "The Euphrates will disclose a golden
treasure. Whoever is present at that time should not take anything of it."
Abû Hurayrah said, The Prophet said, "The Hour will
not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people
will fight. Ninety-nine out of every hundred will die, but every one among
them will say that perhaps he will be the one who will survive (and thus
possess the gold)." (Muslim.)

Abû Hurayrah said, The Prophet said,
"The Hour will not come until the following events have come to pass: two
large groups will fight the another, and there will be many casualties; they
will both be following the same religious teaching. Nearly thirty Dajjals
will appear, each of them falsely claiming to be a Messenger from Allâh.
Knowledge will disappear, earthquakes will increase, time will pass quickly,
afflictions will appear, and Harj (ie killing) will increase. Wealth will
increase, so that a wealthy man will worry lest no-one accept his Zakat, and
when he offers it to anyone, that person will say, I am not in need of it.
People will compete in constructing high buildings. When a man passes by
someones grave, he will say, Would that I were in his place! The sun will
rise from the west; when it rises and the people see it, they will believe,
but,
"No good will it do to a soul to
believe in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness
through its faith..."
(Al-Anam 6:158) The Hour will come suddenly: when a man has milked his
she-camel and taken away the milk, but he will not have time to drink it;
before a man repairing a tank for his livestock will be able to put water in
it for his animals; and before a man who has raised a morsel of food to his
mouth will be able to eat it." (al-Bukhârî)

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman said,
"Of all the people, I know most about every tribulation which is going to
happen between now and the Hour. This is not because the Prophet told me
something in confidence which he did not tell anyone else; it is because I
was present among a group of people to whom he spoke about the tribulations
(al-Fitan). The Prophet mentioned three tribulations which would hardly
spare anybody, and some which would be like storms in summer; some would be
great and some would be small. Everyone who was present at that gathering
has passed away, except me." (Muslim.)

Abû Hurayrah said, I heard the Prophet
say, "If you live for a while, you will see people
go out under the wrath of Allâh and come back under His curse, and they will
have in their hands whips like the tail of an ox."
(Ahmad, Muslim.)

Abû Hurayrah said, The Prophet said,
"There are two types among the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen. The
first are people who have whips like the tails of oxen, with which they beat
people, and the second are women who are naked in spite of being dressed;
they will be led astray and will lead others astray, and their heads will
look like camels humps. These women will not enter Paradise; they will not
even experience the faintest scent of it, even though the fragrance of
Paradise can be perceived from such a great distance."

Anas ibn Malik said, The Prophet was
asked, "O Messenger of Allâh, (what will happen)
when we stop enjoining good and forbidding evil?"
He said, "When what happened to the Israelites
happens among you: when fornication becomes widespread among your leaders,
knowledge is in the hands of the lowest of you, and power passes into the
hands of the least of you." (Ibn Majah.)

Abû Hurayrah said, The Prophet said,
"Woe to the Arabs from the great evil which is nearly approaching them: it
will be like patches of dark night. A man will wake up as a believer, and be
a kafir (unbeliever) by nightfall. People will sell their religion for a
small amount of worldly goods. The one who clings to his religion on that
day will be as one who is grasping an ember - or thorns." (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, I heard the Prophet
saying to Thawban, "O Thawban, what will you do
when the nations call one another to invade you as people call one another
to come and eat from one bowl?" Thawban said, May my father and
my mother be sacrificed for you. O Messenger of Allâh! Is it because we are
so few The Prophet said,
"No, on that day you (Muslims) will be many, but
Allâh will put weakness (wahn) in your hearts."
The people asked, What is that weakness, O Messenger of Allâh? He said,
"It is love for this world and dislike of fighting." (Ahmad)

The Prophet said,
"There will be a tribulation in which one who is
sleeping will be better than one who is lying down, one who is lying will be
better than one who is sitting, one who is sitting will be better than on
who is standing, one who is standing will be better than one who is walking,
one who is walking will be better than one who is riding, and one who is
riding will be better than one who is running; all of their dead will be in
Hell." The Companion of the Prophet who narrated this Hadîth
said, O Messenger of Allâh, when will that be? He said,
"That will be the days of Harj." He asked, When will the days of
Harj be? The Prophet said, "When a man will not
trust the person to whom he is speaking." The Companion asked,
What do you advise me to do if I live to see that? He said,
"Restrain yourself, and go back to your place of
residence." The Companion then asked, O Messenger of Allâh, what
should I do if someone enters my neighbourhood to attack me? He said,
"Go into your house."
The Companion asked, What if he enters my house? He said,
"Go into the place where you pray and do this - and he folded his arms, -
and say My Lord is Allâh, until you die."

Abû Bakrah said, The Prophet said,
"There will be a tribulation during which one who is lying down will be
better than one who is sitting, one who is sitting will be better than one
who is standing, one who is standing will be better than one who is walking,
and one who is walking will be better than one who is running."
Someone asked, O Messenger of Allâh, what do you advise me to do? He said,
"Whoever has camels, let him stay with them, and
whoever has land, let him stay in his land."
Someone asked, What about someone who does not have anything like that? He
said, "Then let him take his sword and strike its
edge against a stone, then go as far away as possible."
(Abû Dâwûd; similar Hadîth in Muslim.)

At the time of the Fitnah of Uthman ibn
Affans Khilafah (Caliphate), Sad ibn Abi Waqqas said, I bear witness that
the Prophet said, "There will come a tribulation
during which one who sits will be better than one who stands, one who stands
will be better than one who walks, and one who walks will be better than one
who runs." Someone asked, What do you advise if someone enters my
house to kill me? He said,
"Be like the son of Adam (ie resign yourself)."
(Muslim, at-Tirmidhî.)

Abû Musa al-Ashari said, The Prophet
said, "Before the Hour comes, there will be a
tribulation like patches of dark night. A man will get up a believer and go
to sleep a kafir, or will go to sleep a believer and get up a kafir. The one
who sits will be better than one who stands, and one who walks will be
better than one who runs. Break your bows, cut their strings, and strike
your swords against stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be
like the better of the two sons of Adam."
(Abû Dâwûd)

Abû Dharr said, The Prophet was riding
a donkey and sat me behind him. He said, "O Abû
Dharr, if the people were suffering from such severe hunger that you could
not even get up from your bed to go to the mosque, what would you do?"
I said, Allâh and His Messenger know best. He said,
"Be decent and restrain yourself."
Then he said, "O Abû Dharr, if the people were
suffering from severe death (i e if a man were worth no more than a grave),
what would you do? If the people were killing one another, until Hajarat
al-Zayt (an area of Madînah) were submerged in blood, what would you do?"
I said, Allâh and His Messenger know best. He said,
"Stay in your house and lock the door." I asked, What if I am not
left alone? He said, "Then be one of them."
I said, Should I take up my sword? He said, "If
you did that, you would be joining them in their activities. No - if you
fear that the brightness of the shining sword will disturb you, then cover
your face with part of your clothing, and let him carry his own sin and your
sin." (Ahmad)

'Abdullâh ibn Amr said, We were on a
journey with the Prophet...When the Prophet's caller called for prayer, I
went there. The Prophet was addressing the people, saying:
"O people, it has been the duty of every Prophet before me to guide his
people to whatever he knew was good for them, and to warn them against
whatever he knew was bad for them, but this Ummah has its time of peace and
security at the beginning; at the end of its existence it will suffer trials
and tribulations, one after the other. Tribulation will come, and the
believer will say, This will finish me, but it will pass. Another
tribulation will come, and he will say, This is it, but it will pass, and a
third will come and go likewise. Whoever wishes to be rescued from Hell, and
enter Paradise, let him die believing in Allâh and the Last Day, and treat
the people as he himself wishes to be treated. If anyone gives allegiance to
an Imâm, then let him obey him if he can (or on one occasion he said: as
much as you can)."

Abd al-Rahman (one of the narrators of
this Hadîth) said, When I heard that, I put my head between my knees and
said, But your cousin Muawiyah is ordering us to squander our wealth among
ourselves in vanity, and to kill each other, although Allâh has said,
"O ye who believe! Squander not your wealth among yourselves in vanity..."
(Al-Nisa 4:29)

'Abdullâh (another narrator) put his
head in his hands and paused awhile, then he raised his head and said,
"Obey him in that which is obedience to Allâh and disobey that which is
disobedience to Allâh."
I asked him, Did you hear that from the Prophet? He said,
"Yes, I heard it with my ears and understood it in
my heart." (Ahmad, Abû Dâwûd, al-Nasai, Ibn Majah.)

'Abdullâh ibn Amr said, I heard the
Prophet say, "If you see my Ummah fearing a tyrant so much that they dare
not tell him that he is a tyrant, then there will be no hope for them." The
Prophet said, "Among my Ummah, some will be swallowed up by the earth, some
bombarded with stones, and some transformed into animals." (Ahmad).

FOOTNOTE:

Daws: a tribe in Yemen;
Dhul-Khalasah: a house full of idols - it is so called because they
believed that whoever worshipped it or went around it would be purified
(khallasa). This Hadîth means that the tribe of Daws will become
apostates from Islâm and will go back to idol worshipping; even their
women will exert themselves in worshipping the idol and running around
it, so that their flesh will quiver.

Signs and portents

Abd'Allâh ibn 'Amr said, "I went to the
Prophet (peace be upon him) one day whilst he was performing Wudu'
(ablution) slowly and carefully. He raised his head, looked at me and said,
'Six things will happen to this Ummah: the death of your Prophet -
'and when I heard that I was aghast,' - this is the
first. The second is that your wealth will increase so much that if a man
were given ten thousand, he would still not be content with it. The third is
that tribulation will enter the house of every one of you. The fourth is
that sudden death will be widespread. The fifth is a peace-treaty between
you and the Romans: they will gather troops against you for nine months -
like a woman's period of childbearing - then they will be the first to break
the treaty. The sixth is the conquest of a city.' I asked, 'O
Messenger of Allâh, which city?' He said,
'Constantinople.'
" (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun
from the West, the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast, the (death) of one of you,
or general tribulation.'
" (Ahmad, Muslim.)

Hudhayfah ibn 'Ubayd said,
"The Prophet came upon us whilst, we were busy in
discussion He asked us, 'What are you talking about?' We said, 'We are
discussing the Hour.' He said, 'It will not come until you see ten signs:
the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast, the sun rising from the West, the descent
of Jesus son of Mary, Gog and Magog, and three land-slides - one in the
East, one in the West, and one in Arabia, at the end of which fire will
burst forth from the direction of Aden (Yemen) and drive people to the place
of their final assembly.' " (Ahmad)

THE BATTLE WITH
THE ROMANS:

After the battle with the Romans, which
ended with the conquest of Constantinople, the Dajjal will appear, and Jesus
son of Mary will descend from Heaven to the earth, to the white minaret in
the east of Damascus, at the time of Salat al-Fajr (the morning prayer), as
we shall see in the Saheeh Traditions.

Dhu Mukhammar said, "The Prophet (pbuh)
said, 'You will make a peace-treaty with the
Romans, and together you will invade an enemy beyond Rome. You will be
victorious and take much booty. Then you will camp in a hilly pasture; one
of the Roman men will come and raise a cross and say "Victory to the Cross",
so one of the Muslims will come and kill him. Then the Romans will break the
treaty, and there will be a battle. They will gather an army against you and
come against you with eighty banners, each banner followed by 10,000 men.' "
(Ahmad, Abû Dâwûd, Ibn Majah.)

Yusayr ibn Jabir said, "Once there was
a red storm in Kufah. A man came who had nothing to say except, 'O 'Abdullâh
ibn Mas'ud, has the Hour come?" 'Abdullâh was sitting reclining against
something, and said, 'The Hour will not come until
people will not divide inheritance, nor rejoice over booty.' Pointing
towards Syria, he said. 'An enemy will gather forces
against the Muslims and the Muslims will gather forces against them.'
I asked, 'Do you mean the Romans?' He said,
'Yes. At that time there will be very heavy
fighting. The Muslims will prepare a detachment to fight to the death; they
will not return unless they are victorious. They will fight until night
intervenes. Both sides will return without being victorious; then many will
be killed on both sides. On the fourth day, the Muslims who are left will
return to the fight, and Allâh will cause the enemy to be routed. There will
be a battle the like of which has never been seen, so that even if a bird
were to pass their ranks, it would fall down dead before it reached the end
of them. Out of a family of one hundred, only one man will survive, so how
could he enjoy the booty or divide any inheritance? While they are in this
state, they will hear of an even worse calamity. A cry will reach them: "The
Dajjal has taken your place among your offspring." So they will throw away
whatever is in their hands and go forward, sending 10 horsemen as a scouting
party. The Prophet said,'I know their
names, and the names of their fathers, and the colours of their horses. They
will be the best horsemen on the face of the earth on that day.'
" (Ahmad, Muslim).

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'The Hour will not come until the Romans camp at al-A'mash or Dabiq. An
army, composed of the best people on earth at that time, will come out from
Madînah to meet them. When they have arranged themselves in ranks, the
Romans will say, 'Do not stand between us and those who took prisoners from
amongst us. Let us fight with them.' One-third will run away, and Allâh will
never forgive them. One-third will be killed, and they will be the best of
martyrs in Allâh's sight. One-third, who will never be subjected to trials
or tribulations, will win, and will conquer Constantinople. Whilst they are
sharing out the booty, after hanging their swords on the olive-trees, Satan
will shout to them that the Dajjal has taken their place among their
families. When they come to Syria, the Dajjal will appear, while they are
preparing for battle and drawing up the ranks. When the time for prayer
comes, Jesus the son of Mary will descend and lead them in prayer. When the
enemy of Allâh (i.e. the Dajjal) sees him, he will start to dissolve like
salt in water, but Allâh will kill him.' " (Muslim.)

The Prophet said,
"The Hour will not come until the furthest border
of the Muslims will be in Bula." Then he said,
"O 'Alî!" 'Alî said, "May my father
and mother be sacrificed for you!" The Prophet said,
"You will fight the Romans, and those who come after you will fight them,
until the best people among the Muslims, the people of al-Hijaz, will go out
to fight them, fearing nothing but Allâh. They will conquer Constantinople
with Tasbih and Takbir (saying "Subhan Allâh" and "Allâhu Akbar"), and they
will obtain booty the like of which has never been seen - they will share it
out by scooping it up with their sheilds. Someone will come and say, 'The
Dajjal has appeared in your land', but he will be lying. Anyone who takes
notice of him will regret it, and anyone who ignores him will regret it."
(Ibn Majah.)

Nafi' ibn 'Utbah said, "The Prophet
said, 'You will attack Arabia, and Allâh will
enable you to conquer it. Then you will attack Persia, and Allâh will enable
you to conquer it. Then you will attack Rome, and Allâh will enable you to
conquer it. Then you will attack the Dajjal, and Allâh will enable you to
conquer him.' " (Muslim)

When Mustawrid al-Qurashi was sitting
with 'Amr ibn al-'As, he said, "I heard the Prophet say,
'The Hour will come when the Romans will be in
the majority.''Amr asked him, "What are
you saying?" He said, "I am repeating that which I heard from the Prophet."
'Amr said, "If you say this, it is true, because they have four good
characteristics: they are the most able to cope with tribulation, the
quickest to recover after disaster and to return to the fight after
disaster, and are the best as far as treating the poor, weak and orphans is
concerned. They have a fifth characteristic which is very good; they do not
allow themselves to be oppressed by their kings." The Prophet said,
"You will fight the Romans, and Believers from the Hijaz will fight them
after you, until Allâh enables them to conquer Constantinople and Rome with
Tasbih and Takbir ("Subhan Allâh" and "Allâhu Akbar"). Its fortifications
will collapse, and they will obtain booty the like of which has never been
seen, so that they will share it out by scooping it up with their shields.
Then someone will cry, 'O Muslims! the Dajjal is in your country, with your
families', and the people will leave the wealth. Anyone who takes notice
will regret it and anyone who ignores it will regret it. They will ask, 'Who
shouted?' but they will not know who he is. They will say, you will hear
about his deeds.' So they will go and see, and if they see that everything
is normal, they will say, 'No-one would give a shout like that for no
reason, so let us go together to Ilya'.' If we find the Dajjal there we will
fight him together, until Allâh decides between us and him. If we do not
find the Dajjal, we will go back to our country and our families.' "

Mu'adh ibn Jabal said, "The Prophet
said, 'The building of Bayt al-Maqdis (in
Jerusalem) will be followed by the destruction of Yathrib (Madînah), which
will be followed by the conquest of Constantinople, which will be followed
by the appearance of the Dajjal.'Then
he put his hand on the thigh or the shoulder of the one with whom he was
speaking (i.e. Mu'adh), and said, 'This is as true as the fact that you are
here (or as true as you are sitting here).' "

This does not mean that Madînah will be
destroyed completely before the appearance of the Day, but that will happen
at the end of time, as we shall see in some authentic Ahadîth. But the
building of Bayt al-Maqdis will be the cause of the destruction of Madînah,
as it was proven in the Hadîth that the Dajjal will not be able to enter
Madînah. He will be prevented from doing so because it is surrounded by
angles bearing unsheathed swords. Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said about
Madînah:
'Neither plague nor the Dajjal can enter it.'
" (al-Bukhârî)

Appearance of
Dajjal

First of all, we will quote the reports
which mention the liars and "dajjals" who will precede the coming off the
Dajjal, or Antichrist, who will be the last of them; may Allâh curse them
and punish them with Hell-fire.

Jabir ibn Samurah said, "I heard the
Prophet say, 'Just before the Hour there will be
many liars.'" Jabir said, "Be on your guard against them."
(Muslim).

Jabir said, "I heard the Prophet say,
'Just before the Hour there will be many liars; among them is the one in
al-Yamamah, the 'Ansi in San'a', the one in Himyar, and the Dajjal. This
will be the greatest fitnah.''' (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
"The Hour will not come ... until nearly 30 "dajjals" (liars) appear, each
one claiming to be a messenger from Allâh.'" (al-Bukhârî Muslim.)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'The Hour will not come until 30 "dajjals" appear, each of them claiming to
be a messenger from Allâh, wealth increases, tribulations appear and al-Harj
increases.'" Someone asked, 'What is al-Harj?' He said, 'Killing, killing.'
(Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'The Hour will not come until 30 "dajjals" appear, all of them lying about
Allâh and His Messenger." (Abû Dâwûd)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'Just before the Hour, there will be 30 "dajjals", each of whom will say, I
am a Prophet.'" (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'There will be "dajjals" and liars among my Ummah. They will tell you
something new, which neither you nor your forefathers have heard. Be on your
guard against them, and do not let them lead you astray.'"
(Ahmad)

Thawban said, "The Prophet said,
'There will be 30 liars among my Ummah. Each one
will claim that he is a prophet; but I am the last of the Prophets (Seal of
the Prophets), and there will be no Prophet after me.'" (Ahmad)

The Prophet said,
"Verily before the Day of Resurrection there will
appear the Dajjal, and 30 or more liars."
(Ahmad)

Ibn 'Umar said, "I heard the Prophet
say, 'Among my Ummah there will be more than 70
callers, each of whom will be calling people to Hell-fire. If I wished, I
could tell you their names and tribes.'"

Abû Bakrah said,
"The people spoke a great deal against Musaylimah
before the Prophet said anything about him. Then the Prophet got up to give
a speech and said: '...as for this man about whom you have spoken so much -
he is one of the 30 liars who will appear before the Hour, and there is no
town which will not feel the fear of the Antichrist.'" (Ahmad)

In another version of this report, the
Prophet said, "He is one of the 30 liars who will
appear before the Dajjal. There is no town which will escape the fear of the
Dajjal, apart from Madînah. At that time there will be two angels at every
entrance of Madînah, warding off the fear of the Antichrist."
Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said, 'The time
of the Dajjal will be years of confusion. People will believe a liar, and
disbelieve one who tells the truth. People will distrust one who is
trustworthy, and trust one who is treacherous; and the Ruwaybidah will have
a say.'
Someone asked, 'Who are the Ruwaybidah?' He said,
'Those who rebel against Allâh and will have a say in general affairs.'"
(Ahmad)

Ahadîth about
the Dajjal

'Abdullâh ibn 'Umar said, "'Umar ibn
al-Khattab went along with the Prophet and a group of people to Ibn Sayyad,
and found him playing with some children near the battlement of Banu
Maghalah. At that time Ibn Sayyad was on the threshold of adolescence; he
did not realise that anybody was near until the Prophet struck him on the
back. The Prophet (S) said to him: 'Do you bear
witness than I am the Messenger of Allâh?' Ibn Sayyad looked at
him and said, 'I bear witness that you are the Prophet of the unlettered.'
Then Ibn Sayyad said to the Prophet, 'Do you bear witness that I am the
Messenger of Allâh?' The Prophet dismissed this and said, 'I believe in
Allâh and His Messengers.' Then the Prophet asked him, 'What do you see?'
Ibn Sayyad said, 'Sometimes a truthful person comes to me, and sometimes a
liar.' The Prophet said to him,
'You are confused', then he said, 'I am hiding something from
you.' Ibn Sayyad said, 'It is Dukh.' The Prophet said,
'Silence! You will not be able to go beyond your rank.' 'Omar
ibn al-Khattab said, 'O Messenger of Allâh, shall I cut off his head?' The
Prophet said, 'If he is (the Dajjal) you will not
be able to overpower him, and if he is not, then killing will not do you any
good.'"

Salim ibn 'Abdullâh said, "I heard
'Abdullâh ibn 'Omar say, 'After that, the Prophet and Ubayy ibn Ka'b went
along to the palm trees where Ibn Sayyad was. The Prophet started to hide
behind a tree, with the intention of hearing something from Ibn Sayyad
before Ibn Sayyad saw him. The Prophet saw him lying on a bed, murmuring
beneath a blanket. Ibn Sayyad's mother saw the Prophet hiding behind a tree,
and said to her son, "O Saf (Ibn Sayyad's first
name), here is Mohammad!" Ibn Sayyad jumped up, and the Prophet
said, "If you had left him alone, he would have
explained himself.''

Salim said, "'Abdullâh ibn 'Omar said,
The Prophet stood up to address the people. He praised Allâh as He deserved
to be praised, then he spoke about the Dajjal:
'I warn you against him; there is no Prophet who
has not warned his people against him, even Noah warned his people against
him. But I will tell you something which no other Prophet has told his
people. You must know that the Dajjal is one-eyed, and Allâh is not
one-eyed.'"

Ibn Shihab said: "'Omar ibn Thabit
al-Ansari told me that some of the Companions of the Prophet told him that
on the day when he warned the people about the Dajjal, the Prophet said:
"There will be written between his eyes the word Kafir (unbeliever).
Everyone who resents his bad deeds - or every believer- will be able to read
it." He also said, "You must know that
no one of you will be able to see his Lord until he dies.'"
(Muslim, al-Bukhârî). Ibn 'Omar said, "The Prophet mentioned the Dajjal to
the people. He said, "Allâh is not one-eyed, but
the Dajjal is blind in his right eye, and his eye is like a floating
grape.'" (Muslim) Anas ibn Malik said, "The Prophet said,
'there has never been a Prophet who did not warn his people against that
one-eyed liar. Verily he is one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. On his
forehead will be written the letter Kaf, Fa, Ra (Kafir).'"
(Muslim, al-Bukhârî)

Hudhayfah said, "The Prophet said,
'I know more about the powers which the Dajjal will have than he will know
himself. He will have two flowing rivers: one will appear to be pure water,
and the other will appear to be flaming fire. Whosoever lives to see that,
let him choose the river which seems to be fire, then let him close his
eyes, lower his head and drink from it, for it will be cold water. The
Dajjal will be one-eyed; the place where one eye should be will be covered
by a piece of skin. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir, and
every believer, whether literate or illiterate, will be able to read it.'"
(Muslim)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet said,
'Shall I tell you something about the Dajjal which no Prophet has ever told
his people before me? The Dajjal is one-eyed and will bring with him
something which will resemble Paradise and Hell; but that which he calls
Paradise will in fact be Hell. I warn you against him as Noah warned his
people against him.'" (al-Bukhârî, Muslim)

Mohammad ibn Munkadir said: "I saw
Jabir ibn 'Abdullâh swearing by Allâh that Ibn Sayyad was the Dajjal, so I
asked him, 'Do you swear by Allâh?' He said, 'I heard 'Omar swear to that
effect in the presence of the Prophet, and the Prophet did not disapprove of
it.'" Some 'ulama' (scholars) say that some of the Sahabah (Companions of
the Prophet) believed Ibn Sayyad to be the greater Dajjal, but that is not
the case: Ibn Sayyad was a lesser dajjal. Ibn Sayyad travelled between
Makkah and Madînah with Abû Sa'id, and complained to him about the way that
people were saying that he was the Dajjal. Then he said to Abû Sa'id, "Did
not the Prophet say that the Dajjal would not enter Madînah? I was born
there. Did not he say that he would not have any children? - I have
children. Did not he say that he would be a Kafir? - I have embraced Islâm.
Of all the people, I know the most about him: I know where he is now. If I
were given the opportunity to be in his place, I would not resent it.'"
(al-Bukhârî, Muslim)

There are many Ahadîth about Ibn
Sayyad, some of which are not clear as to whether he was the Dajjal or not.
We shall see Ahadîth which indicates that the Dajjal is not Ibn Sayyad, as
in the Hadîth of Fatimah Bint Qays al-Fahriyyah, although this does not mean
that he was not one of the lesser Dajjal; but Allâh knows best.

THE HAD*TH OF FATIMAH BINT QAYS:

'Amir ibn Sharahil Sha'bi Sha'b Hamdan
reported that he asked Fatimah bint Qays, the sister of Dahhak ibn Qays, who
was one of the first Muhajirat, "Tell me a Hadîth which you heard directly
from the Prophet with no narrator in between." She said, "I can tell you if
you like." He said, 'Yes, please tell me," she said, "I married Ibn
al-Mughirah, who was one of the best of the youth of Quraysh in those days.
But he fell in the first Jihad on the side of the Prophet. "When I became a
widow, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, one of the companions of the Prophet sent me
a proposal of marriage. The Prophet also sent me a proposal of marriage on
behalf of his freedman Usamah ibn Zayd. I had been told that the Prophet had
said, 'He who loves me should also love Usamah.'
When the Prophet spoke to me, I said, 'It is up to you: marry me to whomever
you wish.' "The Prophet said,
'Go and stay with Umm Sharik.' Umm
Sharik was a rich Ansari (Muslim originally from Madînah) woman, who spent
much in the way of Allâh and entertained many guests. I said, 'I will do as
you wish.' Then he said, 'Don't go. Umm Sharik has
many guests, and I would not like it if your head or leg were to become
uncovered accidentally and people saw something you would not wish them to
see. It is better if you go and stay with your cousin 'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr ibn
Umm Maktum' ('Abdullâh was of the Banu Fihr of Quraysh, the same
tribe as that to which Fatima belonged).

"So I went to stay with him, and when I
had completed my 'Iddah (period of waiting), I heard the Prophet's announcer
calling for congregational prayer. I went out to the mosque, and prayed
behind the Prophet. I was in the women's row, which was at the back of the
congregation. When the Prophet had finished his prayer, he sat on the
pulpit, smiling, and said, 'Everyone should stay in
his place.' Then he said,
'Do you know why I had asked you to assemble?' The people said,
'Allâh and His Messenger know best.' "He said,
'By Allâh, I have not gathered you here to give
you an exhortation or a warning. I have kept you here because Tamim al-Dari,
a Christian man who has come and embraced Islâm, told me something which
agrees with that which I have told you about the Dajjal. He told me that he
had sailed in a ship with 30 men from Banu Lakhm and Banu Judham. The waves
had tossed them about for a month, then they were brought near to an island,
at the time of sunset. They landed on the island, and were met by a beast
who was so hairy that they could not tell its front from its back. They
said, "Woe to you! What are you?" It said, "I am al-Jassasah." They said,
"What is al-Jassasah?" It said, "O people, go to this man in the monastery,
for he is very eager to know about you." Tamim said that when it named a
person to us, we were afraid lest it be a devil." Tamim said, 'We quickly
went to the monastery. There we found a huge man with his hands tied up to
his neck and with iron shackles between his legs up to the ankles. We said,
"Woe to you, who are you?" He said, "You will soon know about me. Tell me
who you are." We said, "We are people from Arabia. We sailed in a ship, but
the waves have been tossing us about for a month, and they brought us to
your island, where we met a beast who was so hairy that we could not tell
its front from its back. We said to it, "Woe to you! What are you? and it
said , "I am al-Jassasah." We asked, "What is al-Jassasah?" and it told us,
"Go to this man in the monastery, for he is very eager to know about you."
So we came to you quickly, fearing that it might be a devil.' "The man said,
"Tell me about the date-palms of Baysan.' We said, 'What do you want to know
about them?" He said, 'I want to know whether these trees bear fruit or
not.' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Soon they will not bear fruit.' Then he
said, "Tell me about the lake of al-Tabariyyah [Tiberias, in Palestine].' We
said, 'What do you want to know about it?" He asked, 'Is there water in it?'
We said, 'There is plenty of water in it.' He said, 'Soon it will become
dry.' Then he said, 'Tell me about the spring of Zughar.' We said, 'What do
you want to know about it?' He said, 'Is there water in it, and does it
irrigate the land?" We said, 'Yes, there is plenty of water in it, and the
people use it to irrigate the land.' "Then he said, "Tell me about the
unlettered Prophet ' what has he done?' We said, 'He has left Makkah and
settled in Yathrib.' He asked, 'Do the Arabs fight against him?' We said,
'Yes.' He said, 'How does he deal with them?' So we told him that the
Prophet had overcome the Arabs around him and that they had followed him. He
asked, 'Has it really happened?' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'It is better for
them if they follow him. Now I will tell you about myself. I am the Dajjal.
I will soon be permitted to leave this place: I will emerge and travel about
the earth. In 40 nights I will pass through every town, except Makkah and
Madînah, for these have been forbidden to me. Every time I try to enter
either of them, I will be met by an angel bearing an unsheathed sword, who
will prevent me from entering. There will be angels guarding them at every
passage leading to them.' Fatimah said, "The Prophet striking the pulpit
with his staff, said: 'This is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah, this is Tayyibah,
[ie Madînah]. Have I not told you something like this?' The people said,
'Yes.' He said, 'I liked the account given to me by Tamim because it agrees
with that which I have told you about the Dajjal, and about Makkah and
Madînah. Indeed he is in the Syrian sea or the Yemen sea. No, on the
contrary, he is in the East, he is in the East, he is in the East'
and he pointed towards the East. Fatimah said: I memorised this from the
Prophet." (Muslim).

'Abdullâh ibn 'Umar said, "The Prophet
(S) said, 'While I was asleep, I saw myself a dream
performing Tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka'bah. I saw a ruddy man
with lank hair and water dripping from his head. I said, 'Who is he?" and
they said, "The son of Mary." Then I turned around and saw another man with
a huge body, red complexion, curly hair and one eye. His other eye looked
like a floating grape. They said, "This is the Dajjal." The one who most
resembles him is Ibn Qatan, a man from the tribe of al-Khuza'ah'."
(al-Bukhârî, Muslim).

Jabir ibn 'Abdullâh said, "The Prophet
said, 'The Dajjal will appear at the end of time,
when religion is taken lightly. He will have 40 days in which to travel
throughout the earth. One of these days will be like a year, another will be
like a month, a third will be like a week, and the rest will be like normal
days. He will be riding a donkey; the width between its ears will be 40
cubits. He will say to the people: "I am your lord." He is one-eyed, but
your Lord is not one-eyed. On his forehead will be written the word Kafir,
and every believer, literate or illiterate, will be able to read it. He will
go everywhere except Makkah and Madînah, which Allâh has forbidden to him;
angels stand at their gates. He will have a mountain of bread, and the
people will face hardship, except for those who follow him. He will have two
rivers, and I know what is in them. He will call one Paradise and one Hell.
Whoever enters the one he calls Paradise will find that it is Hell, and
whoever enters the one he calls Hell will find that it is Paradise. Allâh
will send with him devils who will speak to the people. He will bring a
great tribulation; he will issue a command to the sky and it will seem to
the people as if it is raining. Then he will appear to kill someone and
bring him back to life. After that he will no longer have this power. The
people will say, "Can anybody do something like this except the Lord?" The
Muslims will flee to Jabal al-Dukhan in Syria, and the Dajjal will come and
besiege them. The siege will intensify and they will suffer great hardship.
Then Jesus son of Mary will descend, and will call the people at dawn: "O
people, what prevented you from coming out to fight this evil liar?" They
will answer, "He is a Jinn." Then they will go out, and find Jesus son of
Mary. The time for prayer will come, and the Muslims will call on Jesus to
lead the prayer, but he will say, "Let your Imâm lead the prayer." Their
Imâm will lead them in praying Salat al-Subh (Morning prayer), then they
will go out to fight the Dajjal. When the liar sees Jesus, he will dissolve
like salt in water. Jesus will go to him and kill him, and he will not let
anyone who followed him live'." (Ahmad).

Warnings
against the Dajjal

THE Hadîth OF AL-NUWAS IBN SAM'AN
AL-KILABI

Al-Nuwas ibn Saman said, "One morning
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - spoke about the Dajjal.
Sometimes he described him as insignificant, and sometimes he described him
as so dangerous that we thought he was in the clump of date-palms nearby.
When we went to him later on, he noticed that fear in our faces, and asked,
'What is the matter with you?' We said, 'O Messenger of Allâh,
this morning you spoke of the Dajjal; sometimes you described him as
insignificant, and sometimes you described him as being so dangerous that we
thought he was in the clump of date-palms nearby. "The Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - said, 'I fear for you in other
matters besides the Dajjal. If he appears whilst I am among you, I will
contend with him on your behalf. But if he appears while I am not among you,
then each man must contend with him on his own behalf, and Allâh will take
care of every Muslim on my behalf. The Dajjal will be a young man, with
short, curly hair, and one eye floating. I would liken him to 'Abd al-Uzza
ibn Qatan. Whoever amongst you lives to see him should recite the opening
Ayat of Surat al-Kahf. He will appear on the way between Syria and Iraq, and
will create disaster left and right. O servants of Allâh, adhere to the Path
of Truth." "We said, 'O Messenger of Allâh, for the day which is
like a year, will one days prayers be sufficient? He said,
'No, you must make an estimate of the time, and then observe the prayers."
"We asked, 'O Messenger of Allâh, how quickly will he walk upon the earth?
He said, 'Like a cloud driven by the wind. He will
come to the people and call them (to a false religion), and they will
believe in him and respond to him. He will issue a command to the sky, and
it will rain; and to the earth, and it will produce crops. After grazing on
these crops, their animals will return with their udders full of milk and
their flanks stretched. Then he will come to another people and will call
them (to a false religion), but they will reject his call. He will depart
from them; they will suffer famine and will possess nothing in the form of
wealth. Then he will pass through the wasteland and will say, 'Bring forth
your treasures, and the treasures will come forth, like swarms of bees. Then
he will call a man brimming with youth; he will strike him with a sword and
cut him in two, then place the two pieces at the distance between an archer
and his target. Then he will call him, and the young man will come running
and laughing.""At that point, Allâh will send the Messiah, son
of Mary, and he will descend to the white minaret in the east of Damascus,
wearing two garments dyed with saffron, placing his hands on the wings of
two angels. When he lowers his head, beads of perspiration will fall from
it, and when he raises his head, beads like pearls will scatter from it.
Every Kafir who smells his fragrance will die, and his breath will reach as
far as he can see. He will search for the Dajjal until he finds him at the
gate of Ludd*, where he will kill him." "Then a people whom Allâh has
protected will come to Jesus son of Mary, and he will wipe their faces (ie
wipe the traces of hardship from their faces) and tell them of their status
in Paradise. At that time Allâh will reveal to Jesus: "I have brought forth
some of My servants whom no-one will be able to fight. Take My servants
safely to al-Tur." "Then Allâh will send Gog and Magog, and they will swarm
down from every slope. The first of them will pass by the Lake of Tiberias,
and will drink some of its water; the last of them will pass by it and say,
"There used to be water here." Jesus, the Prophet of Allâh, and his
Companions will be besieged until a bull's head will be dearer to them than
one hundred dinars are to you nowadays." "Then Jesus and his Companions will
pray to Allâh, and He will send insects who will bite the people of Gog and
Magog on their necks, so that in the morning they will all perish as one.
Then Jesus and his Companions will come down and will not find any nook or
cranny on earth which is free from their putrid stench. Jesus and his
Companions will again pray to Allâh, Who will send birds like the necks of
camels; they will seize the bodies of Gog and Magog and throw them wherever
Allâh wills. Then Allâh will send rain which no house or tent will be able
to keep out, and the earth will be cleansed, until it will look like a
mirror. Then the earth will be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its
blessing. On that day, a group of people will be able to eat from a single
pomegranate and seek shelter under its skin (ie the fruit would be so big).
A milch camel will give so much milk that a whole party will be able to
drink from it; a cow will give so much milk that a whole tribe will be able
to drink from it; and a milch-sheep will give so much milk that a whole
family will be able to drink from it. At that time, Allâh will send a
pleasant wind which will soothe them even under their armpits, and will take
the soul of every Muslim. Only the most wicked people will be left, and they
will fornicate like asses; then the Last Hour will come upon them."
(Muslim)

A Hadîth NARRATED FROM Abû UMAMAH
AL-BAHILI

Abû Umamah al-Bahili said, "The Prophet
- sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - delivered a speech to us, most of which
dealt with the Dajjal and warned us against him. He said,'No tribulation on earth since the creation of Adam
will be worse than the tribulation of the Dajjal. Allâh has never sent a
Prophet who did not warn his Ummah against the Dajjal. I am the last of the
Prophets, and you are the last Ummah. The Dajjal is emerging among you and
it is inevitable. If he appears while I am still among you, I will contend
with him on behalf of every Muslim. But if he appears after I am gone, then
every person must contend with him on his own behalf. He will appear on the
way between Syria and Iraq, and will spread disaster right and left. O
servants of Allâh adhere to the path of Truth. I shall describe him for you
in a way that no Prophet has ever done before. He will start by saying that
he is a Prophet, but there will be no Prophet after me. Then he will say, "I
am your Lord," but you will never see your Lord until you die. The Dajjal is
one-eyed, but your Lord, glorified be He, is not one-eyed. On his forehead
will be written the word Kafir, which every Muslim, literate or illiterate,
will be able to read. Among that which he will bring will be the Paradise
and Hell he will offer; but that which he calls Hell will be Paradise, and
that which he calls Paradise will be Hell. Whoever enters his Hell, let him
seek refuge with Allâh and recite the opening Ayat of Surat al-Kahf, and it
will become cool and peaceful for him, as the fire became cool and peaceful
for Abraham. "He will say to a Bedouin, What do you think if I bring your
father and mother back to life for you? Will you bear witness that I am your
lord? The Bedouin will say Yes, so two devils will assume the appearance of
his father and mother, and will say, "O my son, follow him for he is your
lord." "He will be given power over one person, whom he will kill and cut in
two with a saw. Then he will say, 'Look at this slave of mine, now I will
resurrect him, but he will still claim that he has a Lord other than me.
Allâh will resurrect him, and this evil man (the Dajjal) will say to him,
'Who is your Lord? The man will answer, 'My Lord is Allâh, and you are the
enemy of Allâh. You are the Dajjal. By Allâh, I have never been more sure of
this than I am today."

Abû Said said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'That man will
have the highest status among my Ummah in Paradise."
Abû Said said, "By Allâh, we never thought that that man would be any
other than 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, until he passed away." Al-Muharibi said:
"Then we referred to the Hadîth of Abû Rafii, which said,
'Part of his Fitnah will be the fact that he will pass through an area whose
people will deny him, and none of their livestock will remain alive. Then he
will pass through a second area whose people will believe in him; he will
order the sky to rain and the earth to bring forth crops, and their flocks
will return from grazing fatter than they have ever been, with their flanks
stretched, their udders full. He will pass through every place on earth -
except Makkah and Madînah, which he will never enter, for there are angels
guarding every gate of them with unsheathed swords - until he reaches
al-Zarib al-Ahmar and camps at the edge of the salt-marsh. Madînah will be
shaken by three tremors, after which every Munafiq (hypocrite) will leave
it, and it will be cleansed of evil, as iron is cleansed of dross. That day
will be called Yawm al-Khalas (The Day of Purification)."

Umm Sharik bint Abil-Akr said, "O
Messenger of Allâh, where will the Arabs be at that time?" He said,
"At that time they will be few; most of them will be in Bayt al-Maqdis
(Jerusalem), and their Imâm will be a righteous man. Whilst their Imâm is
going forward to lead the people in praying Salat al-Subh (the morning
prayer), Jesus son of Mary will descend. The Imâm will step back, to let
Jesus lead the people in prayer, but Jesus will place his hand between the
mans shoulders and say, 'Go forward and lead the prayer, for the Iqamah was
made for you. So the Imâm will lead the people in prayer, and afterwards
Jesus - alayhis salâm - will say, 'Open the gate. The gate will be opened,
and behind it will be the Dajjal and a thousand Jews, each of them bearing a
sword and shield. When the Dajjal sees Jesus, he will begin to dissolve like
salt in water, and will run away. Jesus will say, 'You will remain alive
until I strike you with my sword. He will catch up with him at the eastern
gate of Ludd* and will kill him. The Jews will be deflated with the help of
Allâh. There will be no place for them to hide; they will not be able to
hide behind any stone, wall, animal or tree - except the boxthorn
(al-Gharqarah) - without saying, 'O Muslim servant of Allâh! here is a Jew,
come and kill him!"

The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, "The time of the Dajjal will be
forty years; one year like half a year, one year like a month, and one month
like a week. The rest of his days will pass so quickly that if one of you
were at one of the gates of Madînah, he would not reach the other gate
before evening fell."
Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allâh, how will we pray in those shorter
days?" He said, "Work out the times of prayer in
the same way that you do in these longer days, and then pray."
The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Jesus son of Mary will be a just administrator and leader of my Ummah. He
will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizyah (tax on
non-Muslims). He will not collect the Sadaqah,* so he will not collect sheep
and camels. Mutual enmity and hatred will disappear. Every harmful animal
will be made harmless, so that a small boy will be able to put his hand into
a snakes mouth without being harmed, a small girl will be able to make a
lion run away from her, and a wolf will go among sheep as if he were a
sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace as a container is filled with
water. People will be in complete agreement, and only Allâh will be
worshipped. Wars will cease, and the authority of Quraysh will be taken
away. The earth will be like a silver basin, and will produce fruits so
Abûndantly that a group of people will gather to eat a bunch of grapes or
one pomegranate and will be satisfied. A bull will be worth so much money,
but a horse will be worth only a few dirhams." Someone asked, "O
Messenger of Allâh, why will a horse be so cheap?" He said,
"Because it will never be ridden in war."
He was asked, "Why will the bull be so expensive?" He said,
"Because it will plough the earth. For three
years before the Dajjal emerges, the people will suffer severe hunger. In
the first year, Allâh will order the sky to withhold a third of its rain,
and the earth to withhold two-thirds of its fruits. In the third year, He
will order the sky to withhold all of its rain, and the earth to withhold
all of its fruits, so that nothing green will grow. Every cloven-hoofed
creature will die except for whatever Allâh wills." Someone
asked, "How will the people live at that time?" He said,
"By saying La ilaha illa Allâh, Allâhu Akbar, Subhan Allâh and
Al-Hamdu-lillah. This will be like food for them." The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "The Dajjal
will come forth, and one of the Believers will go towards him. The armed men
of the Dajjal will ask him, 'Where are you going? He will say, 'I am going
to this one who has come forth. They will say, 'Kill him! Then some of them
will say to the others, 'Hasnt your lord [ie the Dajjal] forbidden you to
kill anyone without his permission?" So they will take him to the Dajjal,
and when the Believer sees him, he will say, 'O People, this is the Dajjal
whom the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - told us about. Then the
Dajjal will order them to seize him and wound him in the head; they will
inflict blows all over, even in his back and stomach. The Dajjal will ask
him, 'Dont you believe in me? He will say, 'You are a false Messiah. The
Dajjal will order that he be sawn in two from the parting of his hair to his
legs; then he will walk between the two pieces. Then he will say 'Stand! and
the man will stand up. The Dajjal will say to him, 'Dont you believe in me?
The believer will say, 'It has only increased my understanding that you are
the Dajjal. Then he will say, 'O people! he will not treat anyone else in
such a manner after me. The Dajjal will seize him to slaughter him, but the
space between his neck and collar-bone will be turned into copper, and the
Dajjal will not be able to do anything to him. He will take the man by his
arms and legs and throw him away; the people will believe that he has been
thrown into Hell, whereas in fact he will have been thrown into Paradise."
The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"He will be the greatest of martyrs in the sight of Allâh, the Lord of the
Worlds." (Muslim).

FOOTNOTES:

*Ludd: the biblical Lydda, now known as
Lod, site of the zionist states major airport.

* "He will break the cross and kill
pigs", ie Christianity will be annulled. "He will not collect the Sadaqah
(ie Zakat) - because there will be so much wealth, and no-one will be in
need of Sadaqah.

A Test for the
People at the End of Time

THE Hadîth OF AL-MUGHIRAH IBN SHU'BAH

Al-Mughirah ibn Shubah said, "No-one
asked the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - more questions about the
Dajjal than I did. He said, 'You should not worry
about him, because he will not be able to harm you.'
I said, 'But they say that he will have much food and water! He said,
'He is too insignificant in the sight of Allâh to
have all that.' (Muslim.)

Al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said, "No-one
asked the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - more questions about the
Dajjal than I did." One of the narrators said, "What did you ask him?"
Al-Mughirah said, "I said, 'They say that the Dajjal will have a mountain of
bread and meat, and a river of water. The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said,
'He is too insignificant in the sight of Allâh to have all that.'
(Muslim.)

From these Ahadîth, we can see that
Allâh will test His servants with the Dajjal and by the miracles which he
will be permitted to perform: as we have already mentioned, the Dajjal will
order the sky to rain for those who accept him, and will order the earth to
bring forth its fruits so that they and their livestock will eat of it, and
their flocks will return fat and with their udders full of milk. Those who
reject the Dajjal and refuse to believe in him will suffer drought and
famine; people and livestock will die, and wealth and supplies of food will
be depleted. People will follow the Dajjal like swarms of bees, and he will
kill a young man and bring him back to life. This is not a kind of magic; it
will be something real with which Allâh will test His servants at the end of
time. Many will be led astray, and many will be guided by it. Those who
doubt will disbelieve, but those who believe will be strengthened in their
faith.

Al-Qadi 'Iyad and others interpreted
the phrase "He is too insignificant in the sight of
Allâh to have all that" as meaning that the Dajjal is too
insignificant to have anything that could lead the true believers astray,
because he is obviously evil and corrupt. Even if he brings great terror,
the word Kafir will be clearly written between his eyes; one report explains
that it will be written "Kaf, Fa, Ra," from which we can understand that it
will be written perceptibly, not abstractly, as some people say. One of his
eyes will be blind, protruding and repulsive; this is the meaning of the
Hadîth:
"...as if it were a grape floating on the surface
of the water." Other reports say that it is
"dull, with no light in it,"
or "like white spittle on a wall,"
i e, it will look ugly.

Some reports say that it is his right
eye which will be blind; others say that it is his left eye. He could be
partly blind in both eyes, or there could be a fault in both eyes. This
interpretation could be supported by the Hadîth narrated by al-Tabarani, in
which he reports that Ibn 'Abbas said, "The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, "The Dajjal is curly-haired and
white-skinned. His head is like the branch of a tree; his left eye is blind,
and the other eye looks like a floating grape. " One may ask: if
the Dajjal is going to cause such widespread evil and his claim to be a
"lord" will be so widely believed - even though he is obviously a liar, and
all the Prophets have warned against him - why does the Qur'ân not mention
him by name and warn us against his lies and stubbornness? The answer is:-

1. The Dajjal was referred to in the
Ayah: "... The day that certain of the signs of thy
Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it
believed not before nor earned righteousness through its Faith..."
(al-Anam 6:158)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'There are
three things which, when they appear, no good will it do a soul to believe
in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its
Faith. They are: The Dajjal, the Beast, and the rising of the sun from the
west.' "

2. Jesus son of Mary will descend from
Heaven and kill the Dajjal, as we have already mentioned. The descent of
Jesus is mentioned in the Ayat: "That they said (in
boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of Allâh; - but
they killed him not nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them,
and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain)
knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him
not:- Nay, Allâh raised him up unto Himself; and Allâh is exalted in Power,
Wise;- And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him
before his death; and on the Day of Judgement, he will be a witness against
them."
(al-Nisa 4:157-9)

We think that the Tafsir
(interpretation) of this Ayah is that the pronoun in"before his death"(qabla mawtihi) refers
to Jesus; i e, he will descend and the People of the Book who differed
concerning him will believe in him. The Christians claimed that he was
divine, while the Jews made a slanderous accusation, i.e. that he was born
from adultery. When Jesus descends before the Day of Judgement, he will
correct all these differences and lies. On this basis, the reference to the
descent of the Messiah Jesus son of Mary also includes a reference to the
Dajjal (false Mesor Antichrist), who is the opposite of the true Messiah,
because sometimes the Arabs refer to one of two opposites and not the other,
but mean both.

3. The Dajjal is not mentioned by name
in the Qur'ân because he is so insignificant: he claims to be divine, but he
is merely a human being. His affairs are too contemptible to be mentioned in
the Qur'ân. But the Prophets, out of loyalty to Allâh, warned their people
about the Dajjal and the tribulations and misguiding miracles he would
bring. It is enough for us to know the reports of the Prophets and the many
reports from the Prophet Mohammad - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -.

One could argue that Allâh has
mentioned Pharaoh and his false claims, such as "I
am your Lord, Most High" (al-Naziat 79:24) and
"O Chiefs! No god do I know for you but myself
..." (al-Qasas 28:38), in the Qur'ân.

This can be explained by the fact that
Pharaoh and his deeds are in the past, and his lies are clear to every
believer. But the Dajjal is yet to come, in the future; it will be a Fitnah
and a test for all people. So the Dajjal is not mentioned in the Qur'ân
because he is contemptible; and the fact that he is not mentioned means that
it will be a great test. The facts about the Dajjal and his lies are obvious
and do not need further emphasis. This is often the case when something is
very clear. For example, when the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -
was terminally ill, he wanted to write a document confirming that Abû Bakr
would be the Khalifah after him. Then he abandoned this idea, and said,
"Allâh and the believers will not accept anyone other than Abû Bakr."
He decided not to write the document because he knew of Abû Bakr's high
standing among the Sahabah (Companions) and was sure that they would not
choose anyone else.

Similarly, the facts about the Dajjal
are so clear that they did not need to be mentioned in the Qur'ân. Allâh did
not mention the Dajjal in the Qur'ân because He -
subhânahu wa Taâla
- knew that the Dajjal would not be able to lead His true servants astray;
he would only increase their faith, their submission to Allâh and His
Messenger, their belief in the Truth, and their rejection of falsehood.

For this reason the believer whom the
Dajjal overpowers will say, when he revives him, "By Allâh, it has only
increased my understanding that you are the one-eyed liar about whom the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - spoke."

MORE Ahadîth ABOUT THE DAJJAL

The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, "The Dajjal will emerge in a land in
the east called Khurasan. His followers will be people with faces like
hammered shields." Asma' bint Yazid al-Ansariyyah said, "The
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
'During the three years just before the Dajjal comes, there will be one year
when the sky will withhold one third of its rain and the earth one-third of
its fruits. In the second year the sky will withhold two-thirds of its rain,
and the earth two-thirds of its fruits. In the third year the sky will
withhold all of its rain, and the earth all of its fruits, and all the
animals will die. It will be the greatest tribulation: the Dajjal will bring
a Bedouin and say to him, "What if I bring your camels to life for you? Will
you agree that I am your lord?" The Bedouin will say "Yes." So devils will
assume the forms of his camels, with the fullest udders and the highest
humps. Then he will bring a man whose father and brother have died, and will
ask him, "What do you think if I bring your father and brother back to life?
Will you agree that I am your lord?" The man will say "Yes," so the devils
will assume the forms of his father and brother. Then the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - went out for something, and then returned.
The people were very concerned about what he had told them. He stood in the
doorway and asked, 'What is wrong, Asma'? I said, 'O Messenger of
Allâh, you have terrified us with what you said about the Dajjal. He said,
'He will certainly appear. If I am still alive, I will contend with him on
your behalf; otherwise Allâh will take care of every Muslim on my behalf.'
I said, 'O Messenger of Allâh, we do not bake our dough until we are hungry,
so how will it be for the believers at that time? The Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - said,
'The glorification of Allâh which suffices the
people of Heaven will be sufficient for them.' "

Abû Hurayrah (radiAllâhu anhu) said,
"The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
'The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight
the Jews and kill them. When a Jew hides behind a rock or a tree, it will
say, "O Muslim, O servant of Allâh! There is a Jew behind me, come and kill
him!" All the trees will do this except the box-thorn (al-Gharqad), because
it is the tree of the Jews.' " (Ahmad)

PROTECTION AGAINST THE DAJJAL

1. Seeking refuge with Allâh from his
tribulation. It is proven in the Saheeh (authentic) Ahadîth that the Prophet
- sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - used to seek refuge with Allâh from the
tribulation of the Dajjal in his prayers, and that he commanded his Ummah to
do likewise: Allâhumma inna naudhu bika min 'adhabi jahannam, wa min 'adhabi
'l-qabr, wa min fitnati 'l-mahya'i wa'l-mamat, wa min fitnati' l-masihi
'd-dajjal." "O Allâh! We seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hell,
from the punishment of the grave, from the tribulations of life and death,
and from the tribulation of the False Messiah (Dajjal)." This Hadîth was
narrated by many Sahabah, including Anas. Abû Hurayrah, 'A'ishah, Ibn
'Abbas, and Sa'd.

2. Memorising certain Ayat from Surat
al-Kahf. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said, "Seeking refuge with Allâh from the
Dajjal is mentioned in many Mutawatir Ahadîth (those with numerous lines of
narrators). One way of doing this is to memorise ten Ayat from Surat
al-Kahf." Abûl-Dira reported that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam
- said, "Whoever memorises the first ten Ayat of
Surat al-Kahf will be protected from the Dajjal." (Abû Dâwûd)

3. Keeping away from the Dajjal One way
to be protected from the tribulation of the Dajjal is to live in Madînah or
Makkah. Abû Hurayrah reported that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, "There are angels standing at the
gates of Madînah; neither plague nor the Dajjal can enter it."
(al-Bukhârî, Muslim.) Abû Bakr reported that the Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - said, "The terror caused by the
Dajjal will not enter Madînah. At that time it will have seven gates; there
will be two angels guarding every gate." (al-Bukhârî) Anas said,
"The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
'The Dajjal will come to Madînah, and he will
find angles guarding it. Neither plague nor the Dajjal will enter it, in sha
Allâh.' " (at-Tirmidhî, al-Bukhârî)

It has been proven in the Saheeh
Ahadîth that the Dajjal will not enter Makkah or Madînah, because the angels
will prevent him from entering these two places which are sanctuaries and
are safe from him. When he camps at the salt-marsh (Sabkhah) of Madînah, it
will be shaken by three tremors - either physically or metaphorically - and
every hypocrite will go out to join the Dajjal. On that day, Madînah will be
cleansed of its dross and will be refined and purified; and Allâh knows
best.

THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE DAJJAL

The Dajjal will be a man, created by
Allâh to be a test for people at the end of time. Many will be led astray
through him, and many will be guided through him; only the sinful will be
led astray. Al-Hafiz Ibn 'Alî al-Abar wrote in his book of history
(al-Tarikh) that the Dajjal's Kunyah (nickname or paternal title) would be
Abû Yusuf.

Abû Bakrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "The Dajjal's
parents will remain childless for thirty years, then a one-eyed child will
be born to them. He will be very bad and will cause a great deal of trouble.
When he sleeps, his eyes will be closed but his heart (or mind) will still
be active.' Then he described his parents:
'His father will be a tall and bulky man, with a
long nose like a beak; his mother will be a huge, heavy-breasted woman.'
Abû Bakrah said, "We heard that a child had been
born to some of the Jews in Madînah. Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awam and I went see
his pa, and found that they matched the description given by the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -. We saw the boy lying in the sun, covered
with a blanket, murmuring to himself. We asked his parents about him, and
they said, 'We remained childless for thirty years, then this one-eyed boy
was born to us. He is very bad and causes a great deal of trouble. When we
went out, we passed the boy. He asked us, 'What were you doing?' We said,
'Did you hear us?. He said, 'Yes; when I sleep, my eyes are closed but my
heart (mind) is still active. That boy was Ibn Sayyad." (Ahmad,
at-Tirmidhî; this Hadîth is not very strong.) As we have already seen in the
Saheeh Ahadîth, Malik and others think that Ibn Sayyad was not the Dajjal;
he was one of a number of "lesser dajjals." Later he repented and embraced
Islâm; Allâh knows best his heart and deeds.

The "greater" Dajjal is the one
mentioned in the Hadîth of Fatimah bint Qays, which she narrated from the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -, from Tamim al-Dari, and which
includes the story of the Jassasah.

The Dajjal will be permitted to appear
at the end of time, after the Muslims have conquered a Roman city called
Constantinople. He will first appear in Isfahan, in an area known as the
Jewish quarter (al-Yahudiyyah). He will be followed by seventy thousand Jews
from that area, all of them armed. Seventy thousand Tatars and many people
from Khurasan will also follow him. At first he will appear as a tyrannical
king, then he will claim to be a prophet, then a lord. Only the most
ignorant of men will follow him; the righteous and those guided by Allâh
will reject him.

He will start to conquer the world
country by country, fortress by fortress, region by region, town by town; no
place will remain unscathed except Makkah and Madînah. The length of his
stay on earth will be forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month,
one day like a week, and the rest of the days like normal days, i e his stay
will be approximately one year and two and a half months. Allâh will grant
him many miracles, through which whoever He wills will be astray, and the
faith of the believers will be strengthened. The descent of Jesus son of
Mary, the true Messiah, will happen at the time of the Dajjal, the false
messiah. He will descend to the minaret in the east of Damascus. The
believers and true servants of Allâh will gather to support him, and the
Messiah Jesus son of Mary will lead them against the Dajjal, who at that
time will be heading for Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). He will catch up with
him at 'Aqabah 'Afiq. The Dajjal will run away from him, but Jesus will
catch up with him at the gate of Ludd, and will kill him with his spear just
as he is entering it. He will say to him, "I have to deal you a blow; you
cannot escape." When the Dajjal faces him, he will begin to dissolve like
salt in water. So Jesus will kill him with his spear at the gate of Ludd,
and he will die there, as many Sahîh Ahadîth indicate. Majma ibn Jariyah is
reported to have said, "I heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -
saying,
'The son of Mary will kill the Dajjal at the gate
of Ludd.' " (at-Tirmidhî.)

FOOTNOTE:

"When he (Dajjal) sleeps, his eyes will
be closed but his heart (or mind) will still be active" - means that his
evil ideas will still come to him even while he is asleep.

The Descent of
Jesus at the End of Time

'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The Dajjal
will appear in my Ummah, and will remain for forty - "I cannot
say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years." -
Then Allâh will send Jesus - alayhis salâm -, the son of Mary, who will
resemble 'Urwah ibn Mas'ud. He will chase the Dajjal and kill him. Then the
people will live for seven years during which there will be no enmity
between any two persons. Then Allâh will send a cold wind from the direction
of Syria, which will take the soul of everyone who has the slightest speck
of good or faith in his heart. Even if one of you were to enter the heart of
a mountain, the wind would reach him there and take his soul. "Only the most
wicked people will be left; they will be as careless as birds, with the
characteristics of beasts, and will have no concern for right and wrong.
Satan will come to them in the form of man and will say, "Don't you
respond?" They will say, "What do you order us to do?" He will order them to
worship idols, and in spite of that they will have sustenance in Abûndance,
and lead comfortable lives. "Then the Trumpet will be blown, and everyone
will tilt their heads to hear it. The first one to hear it will be a man
busy repairing a trough for his camels. He and everyone else will be struck
down. Then Allâh will send (or send down) rain like dew, and the bodies of
the people (ie the dead) will grow out of it. Then the trumpet will be
sounded again, and the people will get up and look around. Then it will be
said, "O people, go to your Lord and account for yourselves." It will be
said, "Bring out the people of Hell," and it will be asked, "How many are
there?" - the answer will come: "Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every
thousand.""On that day a child will
grow old and the shin will be laid bare."
(Al-Qalam 68:42) (Muslim)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The son of
Mary will come down as a just leader. He will break the cross, and kill the
pigs. Peace will prevail and people will use their swords as sickles. Every
harmful beast will be made harmless; the sky will send down rain in
Abûndance, and the earth will bring forth its blessings. A child will play
with a fox and not come to any harm; a wolf will graze with sheep and a lion
with cattle, without harming them.' (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'By Him in
Whose hand is my soul, surely the son of Mary will come down among you as a
just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the pigs and abolish the Jizyah.
Wealth will be in such Abûndance that no-one will care about it, and a
single prostration in prayer will be better than the world and all that is
in it.' "

Abû Hurayrah said, 'If you wish, recite
the Ayah: "And there is none of the People of the
Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgement
he will be a witness against them ..."(Al-Nisa 4:159) (al-Bukhârî, Muslim)

Abû Hurayrah reported that the Prophet
- sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "The
Prophets are like brothers; they have different mothers but their religion
is one. I am the closest of all the people to Jesus son of Mary, because
there is no other Prophet between him and myself. He will come again, and
when you see him, you will recognise him. He is of medium height and his
colouring is reddish-white. He will be wearing two garments, and his hair
will look wet. He will break the cross, kill the pigs, abolish the Jizyah
and call the people to Islâm. During his time, Allâh will end every religion
and sect other than Islâm, and will destroy the Dajjal. Then peace and
security will prevail on earth, so that lions will graze with camels, tigers
with cattle, and wolves with sheep; children will be able to play with
snakes without coming to any harm. Jesus will remain for forty years, then
die, and the Muslims will pray for him."
(Ahmad)

Ibn Masud reported that the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "On the night
of the Isra (night journey), I met my father Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and
they discussed the Hour. The matter was referred first to Abraham, then to
Moses, and both said, 'I have no knowledge of it. Then it was referred to
Jesus, who said, 'No-one knows about its timing except Allâh; what my Lord
told me was that the Dajjal will appear, and when he sees me he will begin
to melt like lead. Allâh will destroy him when he sees me. The Muslims will
fight against the Kafirs, and even the trees and rocks will say, "O Muslim,
there is a Kafir hiding beneath me - come and kill him!" Allâh will destroy
the Kafirs, and the people will return to their own lands. Then Gog and
Magog will appear from all directions, eating and drinking everything they
find. The people will complain to me, so I will pray to Allâh and He will
destroy them, so that the earth will be filled with their stench. Allâh will
send rain which will wash their bodies into the sea. My Lord has told me
that when that happens, the Hour will be very close, like a pregnant woman
whose time is due, but her family do not know exactly when she will
deliver'" (Ahmad, Ibn Majah)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MESSIAH JESUS SON OF
MARY, MESSENGER OF Allâh

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'On the night
of the Isra' (miraculous journey to Jerusalem) I met Moses - he was a slim
man with wavy hair, and looked like a man from the Shanu'ah tribe. I also
met Jesus - he was of medium height and of a red complexion, as if he had
just come out of the bath'" (al-Bukhârî, Muslim)

The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, "Whilst I was asleep, I saw myself
(in a dream) making Tawaf around the Ka'bah. I saw a brown-skinned man, with
straight hair, being supported by two men, and with water dripping from his
head.' I said, 'Who is this?' They said, 'The son of Mary' I turned around
and saw a fat, ruddy man, with curly hair, who was blind in his right eye;
his eye looked like a floating grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' They said,
'The Dajjal' The one who most resembles him is Ibn Qatan."

Al-Zuhri explained: Ibn Qatan was a man
from Khuzaah who died during the Jahiliyyah (before the coming of Islâm).
(al-Bukhârî)

THE APPEARANCE OF GOG AND MAGOG

They (two tribes or peoples) will
appear at the time of Jesus son of Mary, after the Dajjal. Allâh will
destroy them all in one night, in response to the supplication of Jesus. Abû
Hurayrah reported that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Every day, Gog and Magog are trying to dig a way out through the barrier.
When they begin to see sunlight through it, the one who is in charge of them
says, 'Go back; you can carry on digging tomorrow,' and when they come back,
the barrier is stronger than it was before. This will continue until their
time comes and Allâh wishes to send them forth. They will dig until they
begin to see sunlight, then the one who is in charge of them will say, 'Go
back; you can carry on digging tomorrow, insha'Allâh.' In this case he will
make an exception by saying insha' Allâh, thus relating the matter to the
Will of Allâh. They will return on the following day, and find the hole as
they left it. They will carry on digging and come out against the people.
They will drink all the water, and the people will entrench themselves in
their fortresses. Gog and Magog will fire their arrows into the sky, and
they will fall back to earth with something like blood on them. Gog and
Magog will say, 'We have defeated the people of earth, and overcome the
people of heaven. Then Allâh will send a kind of worm in the napes of their
necks, and they will be killed by it' 'By Him in Whose hand is the soul of
Muhammad, the beasts of the earth will become fat.'" Gog and Magog are two
groups of Turks, descended from Yafith (Japheth), the father of the Turks,
one of the sons of Noah. At the time of Abraham - alayhis salâm -, there
was a king called Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He performed Tawaf around the Ka'bah with
Abraham - alayhis salâm - when he first built it; he believed and followed
him. Dhu'l-Qarnayn was a good man and a great king; Allâh gave him great
power and he ruled the east and west. He held sway over all kings and
countries, and travelled far and wide in both east and west. He travelled
eastwards until he reached a pass between two mountains, through which
people were coming out. They did not understand anything, because they were
so isolated; they were Gog and Magog. They were spreading corruption through
the earth, and harming the people, so the people sought help from
Dhu'l-Qarnayn. They asked him to build a barrier between them and Gog and
Magog. He asked them to help him to build it, so together they built a
barrier by mixing iron, copper and tar. Thus Dhu' -Qarnayn restrained Gog
and Magog behind the barrier. They tried to penetrate the barrier, or to
climb over it, but to no avail. They could not succeed because the barrier
is so huge and smooth. They began to dig, and they have been digging for
centuries; they will continue to do so until the time when Allâh decrees
that they come out. At that time the barrier will collapse, and Gog and
Magog will rush out in all directions, spreading corruption, uprooting
plants, killing people. When Jesus (AS) prays against them, Allâh will send
a kind of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it."

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KA'BAH

At the end of time, Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn,
who will come from Abyssinia (al-Habash), will destroy the Ka'bah in order
to steal its treasure and Kiswah (cloth covering). The Ka'bah is the ancient
building which was built by Abraham, and whose foundations were laid by
Adam. As Tafsir (interpretation) of the Ayah
"Until the Gog and Magog (people) are let through
(their barrier)" (al-Anbiya 21:96), it was reported from Ka'b
al-Ahbar that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn will first emerge at the time of Jesus, son
of Mary.

Allâh will send Jesus at the head of a
vanguard of between seven and eight hundred. While they are marching towards
Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn, Allâh will send a breeze from the direction of Yemen,
which will take the soul of every believer. Only the worst of people will be
left, and they will begin to copulate like animals. Ka'b said: "At that
time, the Hour will be close at hand." 'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr said, "I heard the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say,
'Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia will destroy the Ka'bah and steal its
treasure and Kiswah. It is as if I could see him now: he is bald-headed and
has a distortion in his wrists. He will strike the Ka'bah with his spade and
pick-axe.'
" (Ahmad)

It was reported from 'Abdullâh ibn
'Umar that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Leave the Abyssinians alone so long as they do not disturb you, for
no-one will recover the treasure of the Ka'bah except Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn from
Abyssinia." (Abû Dâwûd, in the chapter on the prohibition of
provoking the Abyssinians)

Ibn 'Abbas narrated that the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "It is as if I
can see him now: he is black and his legs are widely spaced. He will destroy
the Ka'bah stone by stone." (Ahmad) The Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - said, "The Hour will not come
until a man from Qahtan appears and rules the people."
(Muslim; similar Hadîth in al-Bukhârî) This man could be Dhu'l-Suwayq,
someone else, because this man comes from Qahtan, while other reports say
that Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn comes from Abyssinia; and Allâh knows best. Abû
Hurayrah said, "The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
'Day and night will not come to an end until a freed man called Jahjah holds
sway'" (Ahmad)

This could be the name of
Dhul-Suwayqatayn from Abyssinia; and Allâh knows best. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
reported that he heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say:
"The people of Makkah will leave, and only a few people will pass through
it. Then it will be resettled and rebuilt; then the people will leave it
again, and no-one will ever return."

Madînah WILL REMAIN INHABITED AT THE
TIME OF THE DAJJAL

It has been proven in the Saheeh
Ahadîth, as already stated, that the Dajjal will not be able to enter Makkah
and Madînah, and that there will be angels at the gates of Makkah to ward
him off and prevent him from entering. It was reported from Abû Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Neither the Dajjal nor plague will be able to
enter Madînah." As mentioned above, the Dajjal will camp outside
Madînah, and it will be shaken by three tremors. Every hypocrite and sinner
will go out to join the Dajjal, and every believer and Muslim will stay.
That day will be called the Day of Purification (Yawm al-Khalas). Most of
those who go out to join the Dajjal will be women. As the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Verily it (Madînah) is good; its evil will be
eliminated and its goodness will be obvious."

Allâh - subhânahu wa Taâla - said:
"Women impure are for men impure, and men impure for women impure, and women
of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity"
(Al-Nur 24-26)

Madînah will remain inhabited during
the days of the Dajjal, and during the time of Jesus son of Mary (AS), until
he dies and is buried there. Then it will be destroyed. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
said, "I heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say,
'A rider will go around Madînah and say, There used to be many Muslims here'
" (Ahmad)

FOOTNOTE: *Dhu'l-Suwayqatayn:
al-Suwayqatayn is the diminutive of al-Saqayn (legs); his legs are described
as being "small" because they are thin. Thin legs are, in general, a
characteristic of the Sudanese and people of the Horn of Africa.

The Emergence
of the Beast

AMONG the signs of the Hour will be the
emergence of a beast from the earth.

It will be very strange in appearance,
and extremely huge; one cannot even imagine what it will look like. It will
emerge from the earth and shake the dust from its head. It will have with it
the ring of Solomon and the rod of Moses. People will be terrified of it and
will try to run away, but they will not be able to escape, because such will
be the decree of Allâh. It will destroy the nose of every unbeliever with
the rod, and write the word "Kafir" on his forehead; it will adorn the face
of every believer and write the word "Mu'min" (true believer) on his
forehead, and it will speak to people.

Allâh - subhânahu wa Taâla - said:

"And when
the Word is fulfilled against them (the unjust), We shall produce from the
earth a Beast to (face) them: it will speak to them..."(al-Naml 27:82)

Ibn 'Abbas, al-Hasan and Qutadah said
that "It will speak to them"
(tukallimuhum) means that it will address them. Ibn Jarir suggested that
it means that the Beast will address them with the words
"...for that mankind did not believe with
assurance in Our Signs..." (al-Naml 27:82 - latter part of the
Ayah).

Ibn Jarir reported this from 'Alî and
'Ata' It was reported from Ibn 'Abbas that tukallimuhum means that the Beast
will cut them, i e, it will write the word "Kafir" on the forehead of the
unbeliever. It was also reported from Ibn 'Abbas that he will both address
them and cut them; this suggestion incorporates both of the previous
suggestions; and Allâh knows best. We have already mentioned the Hadîth of
Hudhayfah ibn Usayd, in which the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -
is reported to have said, "The Hour will not come
until you see ten signs: the smoke; the Dajjal; the Beast; the sun rising
from the West; the descent of Jesus son of Mary; Gog and Magog; and three
landslides - one in the East, one in the West, and one in Arabia, at the end
of which fire will burst forth from the direction of Aden (Yemen) and drive
people to the place of their final assembly."

Abû Hurayrah said: "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Hasten to do
good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the West,
the smoke, the Dajjal, the Beast, the (death) of one of you or general
tribulation.' " (Muslim.) Baridah said: "The Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - took me to a place in the desert, near Makkah. It was a
dry piece of land surrounded by sand. The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said, 'The Beast will emerge from this
place. It was a very small area.' " (Ibn Majah)

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Beast of the Earth will emerge, and will
have with it the rod of Moses and the ring of Solomon."
It was also reported that he said, "(The Beast)
will destroy the noses of the unbelievers with the ring, - so that people
seated around one table will begin to address one another with the words "O
Believer!" or "O Unbeliever!" (i e, everyone's status will become
clear). (Ibn Majah.)

'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr said, "I memorised a
Hadîth from the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - which I have not
forgotten since. I heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say,
'The first of the signs (of the Hour) to appear will be the rising of the
sun from the West and the appearance of the Best before the people in the
forenoon. Whichever of these two events happens first, the other will follow
immediately.' " (Muslim).

That is to say, these will be the first
extraordinary signs. The Dajjal, the descent of Jesus - alayhis salâm,
the emergence of Gog and Magog, are less unusual in that they are all human
beings. But the emergence of the Beast, whose form will be very strange, its
addressing the people and classifying them according to their faith or
unbelief, is something truly extraordinary. This is the first of the earthly
signs, as the rising of the sun from the West is the first of the heavenly
signs.

The Rising of
the Sun from the West

Allâh - subhânahu wa Taâla - says:
"Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself),
or certain of the Signs of thy Lord? The day that certain of the signs of
thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if
it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say:
'Wait ye: we too are waiting.' " (al-Anam 6:158)

It was reported from Abû Sa'id
al-Khudri that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - explained,
"The day that certain of the Signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do
to a soul to believe in them then...", referring to the rising of
the sun from the West. (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'The Hour will
not come until the sun rises from the West. When the people see it, whoever
is living on earth will believe, but that will be the time when - No good
will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before'
" (al-Bukhârî)

It was also reported from Abû Hurayrah
that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until the sun rises from
the West. When it rises and the people see it, they will all believe. But
that will be the time when 'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them
then'" (al-Bukhârî)

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"There are three things which, if they appear,
'No good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not
before nor earned righteousness through its faith' They are: the rising of
the sun from the West, the Dajjal, and the Beast of the Earth."
(Ahmad, Muslim, at-Tirmidhî.)

Abû Dharr said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - asked me,
'Do you know where the sun goes when it sets?'
I said, 'I do not know' He said, 'It travels
until it prostrates itself beneath the Throne, and asks for permission to
rise again. But a time will come when it will be told, 'Go back whence you
came.' That will be the time when 'No good will it do to a soul to believe
in them then, if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its
faith' " (al-Bukhârî)

'Amr ibn Jarir said, "Three Muslims
were sitting with Marwan in Madînah, and heard him say, whilst talking about
the Signs of the Hour, that the first of them would be the appearance of the
Dajjal. The three went to 'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr, and told him what they had
heard Marwan say concerning the Signs. 'Abdullâh said, 'Marwan has not said
much.

I memorised a Hadîth like that from the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - which I have not forgotten since. I
heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say:
"The first of the signs will be the rising of the sun from the West, and the
emergence of the Beast in the forenoon. Whichever of the two comes first,
the other will follow immediately"

Then 'Abdullâh, who was widely-read,
said, 'I think that the first to happen will be the rising of the sun from
the West. Every time it sets, it goes beneath the Throne, prostrates itself,
and seeks permission to rise again. A time will come when three times it
will seek permission and will receive no reply, until, when part of the
night has passed and it realises that even if it were given permission, it
would not be able to rise on time, it will say: "O my Lord, how far the
rising-point is from me! What can I do for the people now?" Then it will
seek permission to go back, and it will be told: 'Rise from where you are
now' - and it will rise from the West'" Then 'Abdullâh recited the Ayah: "No
good will it do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before
nor earned righteousness through its faith." (Ahmad)

Some scholars interpret "the rising of
the sun from the West" as meaning that Islâm will appear in the West, as
strong as it was in the beginning, and that the people of the West will
carry the flag of Islâm.

The Smoke which will
appear at the End of Time

MASRUQ said: "While a man was giving a
speech among the people of Kindah, he said, 'There will be smoke on the Day
of Resurrection which will deprive the hypocrites of their hearing and
sight, but the believers will only suffer something like a cold' We were
terrified, so we went to Ibn Masud, who was reclining. When he heard about
this, he became angry and sat up, and said: 'O people, whoever knows a
thing, let him say it; but whoever does not know, let him say, "Allâh knows
best." It is a part of knowledge, when one does not know something, to say
"Allâh knows best."

"Say: 'No
reward do I ask of you for this (Qur'ân), nor am I a pretender'"
(Sad 38:86.)

"Quraysh were being slow in embracing
Islâm, so the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - prayed against them,
saying, 'O Allâh, help me against them by sending
seven years of famine like those of Joseph.' They were afflicted
by a year of famine in which they were destroyed, and ate dead animals and
bones. They began to see something like smoke between the sky and the earth.

Abû Sufyan came and said, 'O Mohammad!
You came to command us to keep good relations with our relatives, and your
people have perished, so pray that Allâh may relieve them'" The Ibn Mas'ud
recited, "Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind
of smoke (or mist) plainly visible, Enveloping the people: this will be a
Penalty Grievous. (They will say:) "Our Lord!
Remove the Penalty from us, for we do truly believe! How shall the Message
be (effectual) for them, seeing that an Apostle explaining things clearly
has (already) come to them? Yet they return away from him and say: 'Tutored
(by others), a man possessed! We shall indeed remove the Penalty for a
while, (but) truly ye will revert (to your ways)." (al-Dukhan
44:10-15)

Ibn Maud asked: "Will their punishment
in the Hereafter be removed so they can go back to their Kufr?" Allâh -
subhânahu wa Taâla - said:

"One day We
shall seize you with a mighty onslaught: We will indeed (then) exact
Retribution!"(al-Dukhan 44:16)

"...and soon
will come the inevitable (punishment)!"(al-Furqan 25:77)

These Ayat refer to the Day (Battle) of
Badr. Allâh - subhânahu wa Taâla - said:

"Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans (Byzantines) have been defeated - in a land
close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be
victorious - within a few years."(al-Rum 30: 1-3) (al-Bukhârî)

This speaker's suggestion - that the
idea that the smoke would be on the Day or Resurrection was not a good one -
made Ibn Masud react angrily. But the smoke will appear before the Day of
Resurrection; it will be one of the signs, which are: the Beast, the Dajjal,
the Smoke, and Gog and Magog, as the Ahadîth narrated from Abû Sarihah, Abû
Hurayrah and other Sahabah indicate. As mentioned in the Sahîh Ahadîth, the
fire which will appear before the Day of Resurrection will burst forth from
the direction of Aden, and drive the people to the place of their final
assembly. It will move with them and halt with them, and will devour any who
lag behind.

The Hour will
not come until...

IT was reported from Abû Sa'id
al-Khudri that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"Thunderbolts will increase so much as the Hour
approaches that when a man comes to a people, he will ask, 'Who amongst you
was struck by a thunderbolt this morning?' and they will say, 'So-and-so and
so-and-so was struck.' " (Ahmad)

Heavy rain before the Day of
Resurrection

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The hour will not come until there has been rain
which will destroy all dwellings except tents."

We have already mentioned many Ahadîth
about the signs of the Hour. Now we will turn our attention to some Ahadîth
which could indicate that the Hour is close at hand.

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said:
"The Hour will not come until the following
events have come to pass: people will compete with one another in
constructing high buildings; two big groups will fight one another, and
there will be many casualties - they will both be following the same
religious teaching; earthquakes will increase; time will pass quickly;
afflictions and killing will increase; nearly thirty dajjals will appear,
each of them claiming to be a messenger from Allâh; a man will pass by a
grave and say, 'Would that I were in your place'; the sun will rise from the
West; when it rises and the people see it, they will all believe, but that
will be the time when'No good will it
do to a soul to believe in them then, if it believed not before...'
(al-An'am 6:158); and a wealthy man will worry lest
no-one accept his Zakat."
(al-Bukhârî, Muslim)

It was reported from Anas that the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said:
"Among the signs of the Hour are the following: knowledge will decrease and
ignorance will prevail; fornication and the drinking of wine will be common;
the number of men will decrease and the number of women will increase, until
one man will look after fifty women."
(al-Bukhârî) 'A'ishah said, "I heard the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - say, 'Day and night will not pass away
until people begin to worship Lat and 'Uzza'
(two goddesses of pre-Islâmic Arabic). I said, 'O Messenger of Allâh, I
thought that when Allâh revealed the Ayah "It is He
Who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to
proclaim over all religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it)"
(al-Tawbah 9:33), it implied that (this promise) would be fulfilled'. The
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'It
will happen as Allâh wishes. Then Allâh will send a pleasant breeze, which
will take everyone who has as much faith as a grain of mustard-seed in his
heart. Only those with no goodness in them will be left, and they will
revert to the religion of their forefathers'." (Muslim)

It was from Abû Hurayrah that one day,
while the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - was sitting with the
people, a Bedouin came to him and asked him about Iman and Islâm, then he
asked, "O Messenger of Allâh, when will the Hour be?" He said,
"The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who asks, but
I tell you about its signs. When a slave gives birth to her mistress, and
when the bare-footed and naked become the chiefs of the people - these are
among the signs of the Hour. There are five things which no-one knows except
Allâh." Then he recited:
"Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with God
(alone). It is He Who sends down rain, and He Who knows what is in the
wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor
does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily God is All-Knowing, All
Aware." (Luqman 31:34). Then the man went away, and the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "Call him back to me," but when the
people went to call him, they could not see anything. The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"That was Gabriel, who came to teach the people
their religion." (al-Bukhârî, Muslim).

"The
bare-footed and naked paupers will compete with one another in constructing
high buildings"means that they will become the chiefs of people.
They will become rich, and their only concern will be to compete in
constructing high buildings.

This is as in the Hadîth we shall see
later: "The Hour will not come until the happiest
people in the world will be the depraved sons of the depraved."
It was reported from Abû Sa'id that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa
sallam - said: "The Hour will not come until the
time when a man will leave his home, and his shoes or whip or stick will
tell what is happening to his family."
(Ahmad)

It was reported from Abû Sa'id that the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said:
"By Him in Whose hand is my soul, the Hour will
not come until wild animals talk to men, and a man speaks to his whip or his
shoe, and his thigh will tell him about what happened to his family after he
left." Anas said, "We were discussing the fact that the Hour
would not come until there is no rain, the earth does not produce crops, and
fifty women will be cared for by one man; and if a woman passes by a man, he
will look at her and say, 'This woman once had a husband'." (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said: "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said: 'The Hour will
not come until time passes so quickly that a year will be like a month, a
month like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like
the time it takes for a palm-leaf to burn'." (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said: 'The world
will not pass away until the one who enjoys it the most is the depraved son
of the depraved'." (Ahmad)

Abû Hurayrah said, "The Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'Before the
Hour comes, there will be years of deceit, in which a truthful person will
be disbelieved and a liar will be believed; and the insignificant will have
a say'." (Ahmad)

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until wealth increases so
much that a wealthy man will be worried lest no-one accept his Sadaqah:
tribulations will appear; and there will be much Harj."
The people asked, "What is Harj", O Messenger of Allâh?" He said,
"Killing, killing"
(Ahmad)

It was reported from Abû Hurayrah that
the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"By Him Who sent me with the Truth, this earth
will not pass away until people are afflicted with landslides, are pelted
with stones, and are transformed into animals." The people asked,
"When will that be, O Messenger of Allâh?" He said,
"When you see women riding in the saddle, when singers are common, when
bearing false witness becomes widespread, and when men lie with men and
women with women".

Tariq ibn Shihab said, "We were sitting
with 'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ud, when a man came and told us that the time for
prayer had come. So we got up and went to the mosque. After the prayer, a
man came to 'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ud and said, 'As-salam 'alayka (Peace be upon
you), O Abû 'Abd al-Rahman'. 'Abdullâh answered, 'Allâh and His Messenger
have spoken the truth'. When we went back, we asked one another, 'Did you
hear the answer he gave? Who is going to ask him about it? I said, 'I will
ask him'; so I asked him when he came out.

He narrated from the Prophet -
sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam -: 'Before the Hour
comes, there will be a special greeting for the people of distinction; trade
will become so widespread that a woman will help her husband in business;
family ties will be cut; the giving of false witness will be common, while
truthful witness will be rare; and writing will be widespread.'
(Ahmad)

DESCRIPTION OF THE
PEOPLE WHO WILL BE ALIVE AT THE END OF TIME

It was reported from 'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr
that the Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said,
"The Hour will not come until Allâh takes away
the best people on earth; only the worst people will be left; they will not
know any good or forbid any evil." (Ahmad)

'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ud said, "I heard the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - say:
Eloquence can be bewitching; the worst of the
people are those upon whom the Hour will come while they are still alive,
and those who turn graves into mosques'." (Ahmad)

It was reported from Anas that the
Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - said, "The
Hour will not come until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa Allâh'."
(Ahmad) It was also reported from Anas that the Prophet - sallallâhu
alayhi wa sallam - said: "The Hour will not come
until no-one on earth says, 'Allâh, Allâh'."
(Ahmad) There are two suggestions as to the meaning of the phrase,
"until no-one on earth says 'Allâh, Allâh'":

1. It could mean that no-one will
forbid evil, or try to correct another if he sees him doing something wrong.
We have already come across this in the Hadîth of 'Abdullâh ibn 'Amr:
"Only the worst people will be left; they will not know any good or forbid
any evil."

2. It could mean that Allâh will no
longer be mentioned, and His Name will not be known; this will be part of
the prevalent corruption and Kufr, as in the previous Hadîth,
"Until no-one on earth says 'La ilaha illa Allâh'."
'A'ishah said. "The Prophet - sallallâhu alayhi wa sallam - came in, saying
'O 'A'ishah, your people will be the first of my Ummah to join me.
When he sat down, I said, 'O Messenger of Allâh, may I be sacrificed for
you! When you came in, you were saying something which scared me. He asked,
'What was that?' I said, 'You said that my people would be the
first of your Ummah to join you.' He said, 'Yes'
I asked, 'Why is that? He said, 'Death will be
widespread among them, and their relatives will be jealous of them.'
I said, 'How will people be after that?' He said,
'Like locusts: the strong will devour the weak, until the Hour comes.'
" (Ahmad)